Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2009

Tornado Watch 175

April 19, 200948 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 19, 2009, 8:51 PM EDT for 48 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 19, 2009, 8:51 PM EDT (00:51 UTC)
Expired
Apr 20, 2009, 2:56 AM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 48 counties

Barrow County, GA, Bartow County, GA, Butts County, GA, Carroll County, GA, Catoosa County, GA, Chattooga County, GA, Cherokee County, GA, Clayton County, GA, Cobb County, GA, Coweta County, GA, Dade County, GA, Dawson County, GA, DeKalb County, GA, Douglas County, GA, Fannin County, GA, Fayette County, GA, Floyd County, GA, Forsyth County, GA, Fulton County, GA, Gilmer County, GA, Gordon County, GA, Gwinnett County, GA, Hall County, GA, Haralson County, GA, Harris County, GA, Heard County, GA, Henry County, GA, Jasper County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Lumpkin County, GA, Meriwether County, GA, Monroe County, GA, Murray County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Newton County, GA, Paulding County, GA, Pickens County, GA, Pike County, GA, Polk County, GA, Rockdale County, GA, Spalding County, GA, Talbot County, GA, Troup County, GA, Union County, GA, Upson County, GA, Walker County, GA, Walton County, GA, Whitfield County, GA

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 63 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:52 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
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
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
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 19, 10:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCChattooga, Dade, Walker63 min
Apr 19, 10:25 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCChattooga, Dade, Walker28 min
Apr 19, 10:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCFloyd57 min
Apr 19, 10:40 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCCherokee, Cobb, Fulton34 min
Apr 19, 11:04 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCHarris, Muscogee71 min
Apr 19, 11:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCarroll, Haralson59 min
Apr 19, 11:51 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCChattahoochee, Harris, Marion, Muscogee, Talbot23 min
Apr 20, 12:07 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBanks, Dawson, Forsyth, Hall, Lumpkin, White53 min
Apr 20, 12:21 AM EDTTornado WarningFFCCarroll, Coweta, Douglas, Fulton54 min
Apr 20, 12:37 AM EDTTornado WarningFFCClayton, Cobb, Coweta, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton53 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, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 64 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 2009-04-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 182 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 2009-04-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 212 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
182 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1004 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
212 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
248 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 19, 11:21 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Chattooga, Cherokee and 35 more84 min
Apr 20, 12:20 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCElbert, Franklin, Greene, Hart, Lincoln, McDuffie and 4 more55 min
Apr 20, 12:42 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCBaldwin, Banks, Clarke, Columbia, Elbert, Franklin and 19 more5 hr
Apr 20, 1:22 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarrow, Bibb, Butts, Chattahoochee, Clayton, Coweta and 26 more53 min
Apr 20, 2:52 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChatham83 min
Apr 20, 3:16 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBryan, Chatham, Effingham, Liberty, Long, McIntosh6 hr
Apr 20, 4:55 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBryan, Bulloch, Chatham, Effingham, Evans, Liberty and 1 more95 min
Apr 20, 7:36 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChatham84 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2009Every tornado watch in 2009

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.