Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 64, NWS Tallahassee, FL

December 24, 2002Ben Hill County, Irwin County, Georgia

NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this tornado warning at Dec 24, 2002, 9:43 AM EST for Ben Hill County, Irwin County, Georgia. It was in force for 47 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Dec 24, 2002, 9:43 AM EST (14:43 UTC)
Expired: Dec 24, 2002, 10:30 AM EST
In force: 47 min
Issued by: NWS Tallahassee, FL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Ben Hill County, GA, Irwin County, GA

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Dec 24, 10:10 AM EST	Thunderstorm Wind 50 EG	Countywide, GA	Downed trees and power lines reported by the Ben Hill County Sheriff.
Dec 24, 10:10 AM EST	Tornado F1	Ocilla, GA	A small tornado briefly touched town which destroyed a mobile home, damaged several barns and uprooted trees. The tornado also hit a mobile home industrial park, where a dozen homes were severely damaged. Reported by the Irwin County Sheriff.

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Dec 24, 9:20 AM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 12:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 175 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 132 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -145 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 463 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 471 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 585 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

683 
WFUS52 KTAE 241443
TORTLH
GAC017-155-241530-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
942 AM EST TUE DEC 24 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TALLAHASSEE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  BEN HILL COUNTY IN GEORGIA
  THIS INCLUDES FITZGERALD...
  IRWIN COUNTY IN GEORGIA
  THIS INCLUDES OCILLA...

* UNTIL 1030 AM EST

* AT 932 AM EST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO 13 MILES WEST OF MYSTIC...OR ABOUT 7 MILES EAST
  OF ASHBURN...MOVING EAST AT 60 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  MYSTIC BY 945 AM EST...
  FITZGERALD...OCILLA BY 950 AM EST...

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...ABANDON YOUR MOBILE HOME FOR
A REINFORCED SHELTER.

LAT...LON 3184 8317 3175 8300 3151 8310 3150 8332
          3159 8349 3180 8344

.END

17-GOULD

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tallahassee, FL issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 24, 7:57 AM EST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Clay	3 hr
Dec 24, 8:12 AM EST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Early	7 days
Dec 24, 8:37 AM EST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Calhoun, Dougherty, Randolph, Terrell	23 min
Dec 24, 8:54 AM EST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Lee	36 min
Dec 24, 9:02 AM EST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Dougherty, Worth	43 min
Dec 24, 9:12 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE		48 min
Dec 24, 9:23 AM EST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Decatur, Grady	52 min
Dec 24, 9:34 AM EST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Tift, Turner	41 min
Dec 24, 9:49 AM EST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Brooks, Thomas	41 min
Dec 24, 10:01 AM EST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Berrien	29 min
Dec 24, 10:03 AM EST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Cook	27 min
Dec 24, 10:17 AM EST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Lowndes	28 min
Dec 24, 10:19 AM EST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Lanier	26 min
Dec 24, 12:26 PM EST	Special Marine Warning	TAE		2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Georgia, 2002 Every tornado warning in 2002 Tornadoes in 2002

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.