Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2005

Tornado Watch 74

March 23, 2005Chambers County, Lee County, Randolph County, Alabama; 35 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 23, 2005, 12:35 AM CST for Chambers County, Lee County, Randolph County, Alabama; 35 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 23, 2005, 12:35 AM CST (06:35 UTC)
Expired
Mar 23, 2005, 8:00 AM CST
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 38 counties

Chambers County, AL, Lee County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Baldwin County, GA, Butts County, GA, Carroll County, GA, Clarke County, GA, Clayton County, GA, Coweta County, GA, DeKalb County, GA, Fayette County, GA, Glascock County, GA, Greene County, GA, Hancock County, GA, Harris County, GA, Heard County, GA, Henry County, GA, Jasper County, GA, Jones County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Lincoln County, GA, McDuffie County, GA, Meriwether County, GA, Monroe County, GA, Morgan County, GA, Newton County, GA, Oconee County, GA, Oglethorpe County, GA, Pike County, GA, Putnam County, GA, Rockdale County, GA, Spalding County, GA, Taliaferro County, GA, Troup County, GA, Upson County, GA, Walton County, GA, Warren County, GA, Wilkes County, GA

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 20 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:39 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

Warnings issued inside it

2 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 23, 12:37 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXRandolph38 min
Mar 23, 12:54 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers51 min

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 14 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 2005-03-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 2005-03-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 176 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
454 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
73 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
176 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
240 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 230637
SEL4  
SPC WW 230637
ALZ000-GAZ000-231400-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 74...RESENT
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
135 AM EST WED MAR 23 2005

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

       FAR EAST-CENTRAL ALABAMA
       NORTHERN AND CENTRAL GEORGIA

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING FROM 135 AM UNTIL 900 AM EST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 35 STATUTE MILES
NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF AUBURN
ALABAMA TO 55 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF ATHENS GEORGIA.  FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU4).

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 72...WW 73...

DISCUSSION...SURFACE WARM FRONT IS BECOMING BETTER DEFINED ACROSS
NRN GA FROM JUST SOUTH OF AHN TO FFC.  PRESSURE FALL MAXIMA IS
APPARENT ALONG THIS BOUNDARY...SUGGESTING MESO LOW MAY FORM ALONG
NEWD MOVING SQUALL LINE MOVING INTO FAR ERN AL AT 06Z. AS THIS
ACTIVITY SHIFTS ENEWD OVERNIGHT...ENHANCED LIFT AND SHEAR NEAR THE
FRONT/MESO LOW WILL ENHANCE TORNADO THREAT JUST NORTH AND NORTHEAST
OF TORNADO WATCH 73.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
400. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23035.


...EVANS

333,0853 340,0822 330,0822 322,0853

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 22, 6:09 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bibb, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke and 22 more2 hr
Mar 22, 6:50 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Bibb, Blount, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw and 26 more7 hr
Mar 22, 7:47 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Cullman, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Marion and 1 more88 min
Mar 22, 9:36 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Butler and 49 more84 min
Mar 22, 10:11 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDeKalb, Jackson, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Morgan2 hr
Mar 22, 11:30 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCBarbour, Bullock, Butler, Chambers, Coffee, Coosa and 13 more7 hr
Mar 22, 11:37 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Chambers, Coffee and 19 more83 min
Mar 23, 1:27 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bibb, Blount, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw and 27 more63 min
Mar 23, 2:11 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Bullock, Chambers, Coffee, Coosa, Covington and 13 more2 hr
Mar 22, 6:24 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChatham36 min
Mar 22, 7:39 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBerrien, Brooks, Colquitt, Cook, Decatur, Grady and 8 more36 min
Mar 23, 1:35 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrooks, Decatur, Grady, Lowndes, Seminole, Thomas85 min
Mar 23, 3:16 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAppling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bleckley and 36 more89 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2005Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2005Every tornado watch in 2005

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.