Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2008
Tornado Watch 64
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 17, 2008, 4:01 PM EST for 35 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 17, 2008, 4:01 PM EST (21:01 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 17, 2008, 9:00 PM EST
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 35 counties
Baldwin County, GA, Banks County, GA, Barrow County, GA, Bartow County, GA, Bibb County, GA, Butts County, GA, Cherokee County, GA, Clarke County, GA, Clayton County, GA, Cobb County, GA, Crawford County, GA, DeKalb County, GA, Douglas County, GA, Fayette County, GA, Forsyth County, GA, Fulton County, GA, Greene County, GA, Gwinnett County, GA, Hall County, GA, Henry County, GA, Jackson County, GA, Jasper County, GA, Jones County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Madison County, GA, Monroe County, GA, Morgan County, GA, Newton County, GA, Oconee County, GA, Oglethorpe County, GA, Paulding County, GA, Putnam County, GA, Rockdale County, GA, Spalding County, GA, Walton County, GA
The radar
The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 41 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:01 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.
What SPC expected
The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.
- Two or more tornadoes
- 40%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 60%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 40%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 40%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 30%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 90%
Warnings issued inside it
9 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 17, 4:07 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Bartow, Cherokee, Cobb, Fulton, Paulding | 23 min |
| Feb 17, 4:11 PM EST | Tornado Warning | FFC | Douglas, Fulton | 34 min |
| Feb 17, 4:27 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Cherokee, Dawson, Forsyth, Fulton | 33 min |
| Feb 17, 4:39 PM EST | Tornado Warning | FFC | Fulton | 36 min |
| Feb 17, 4:57 PM EST | Tornado Warning | FFC | DeKalb, Gwinnett | 33 min |
| Feb 17, 6:12 PM EST | Tornado Warning | FFC | Crawford | 33 min |
| Feb 17, 6:37 PM EST | Tornado Warning | FFC | Bibb | 38 min |
| Feb 17, 7:03 PM EST | Tornado Warning | FFC | Jones | 42 min |
| Feb 17, 7:25 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Baldwin | 20 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 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 35 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1892 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 54 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 320 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 438 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 172056
SEL4
SPC WW 172056
GAZ000-180200-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 64
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
400 PM EST SUN FEB 17 2008
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
NORTHERN GEORGIA
EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 400 PM UNTIL 900
PM 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 55 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF
ATLANTA GEORGIA TO 40 MILES NORTHWEST 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 63...
DISCUSSION...FAST MOVING BOW ECHO CONTINUES TO RACE NEWD ALONG WEDGE
FRONT TOWARDS METRO ATL ATTM. DESPITE LACK OF MEASURABLE
SBCAPE...SYSTEM CONTINUES TO SUSTAIN A VERY ORGANIZED/INTENSE
STRUCTURE. EXTREME LOW LEVEL SHEAR WILL SUPPORT AT LEAST A RISK OF
ISOLATED TORNADOES WITH THIS SYSTEM...ALONG WITH MORE WIDESPREAD
DAMAGING WINDS.
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
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23045.
...EVANSSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 17, 1:14 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baker, Calhoun, Chattahoochee, Clay, Decatur, Dougherty and 14 more | 91 min |
| Feb 17, 1:32 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baker, Calhoun, Carroll, Chattahoochee, Clay, Coweta and 27 more | 7 hr |
| Feb 17, 3:45 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baker, Butts, Calhoun, Carroll, Chattahoochee, Clay and 45 more | 90 min |
| Feb 17, 6:19 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Baldwin, Barrow and 100 more | 86 min |
| Feb 17, 6:58 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baker, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bleckley, Brooks, Burke and 51 more | 8 hr |
Nearby
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.