Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2009
Tornado Watch 4
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jan 6, 2009, 5:37 PM EST for 45 counties in Georgia; 6 counties in North Carolina; 8 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 3 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jan 6, 2009, 5:37 PM EST (22:37 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 6, 2009, 8:37 PM EST
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 59 counties
Banks County, GA, Barrow County, GA, Bartow County, GA, Carroll County, GA, Cherokee County, GA, Clarke County, GA, Clayton County, GA, Cobb County, GA, Coweta County, GA, Dawson County, GA, DeKalb County, GA, Douglas County, GA, Elbert County, GA, Fannin County, GA, Fayette County, GA, Floyd County, GA, Forsyth County, GA, Franklin County, GA, Fulton County, GA, Gilmer County, GA, Gordon County, GA, Gwinnett County, GA, Habersham County, GA, Hall County, GA, Haralson County, GA, Hart County, GA, Heard County, GA, Henry County, GA, Jackson County, GA, Lumpkin County, GA, Madison County, GA, Murray County, GA, Newton County, GA, Oconee County, GA, Oglethorpe County, GA, Paulding County, GA, Pickens County, GA, Polk County, GA, Rabun County, GA, Rockdale County, GA, Stephens County, GA, Towns County, GA, Union County, GA, Walton County, GA, White County, GA, Henderson County, NC, Jackson County, NC, Macon County, NC, Polk County, NC, Rutherford County, NC, Transylvania County, NC, Abbeville County, SC, Anderson County, SC, Greenville County, SC, Greenwood County, SC, Laurens County, SC, Oconee County, SC, Pickens County, SC, Spartanburg County, SC
The radar
The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:40 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
- 10%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 5%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 70%
Warnings issued inside it
1 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 6, 6:58 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Macon | 4 hr |
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, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 110 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
- 40 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 473 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 71 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 295 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 391 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
291
WWUS20 KWNS 062237
SEL4
SPC WW 062237
GAZ000-NCZ000-SCZ000-070400-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 4
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
540 PM EST TUE JAN 6 2009
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
MUCH OF NORTHERN GEORGIA
PARTS OF SOUTHWESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
PARTS OF WESTERN SOUTH CAROLINA
EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 540 PM UNTIL
1100 PM EST.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 45 STATUTE
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 50 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF
ROME GEORGIA TO 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF GREENVILLE SOUTH CAROLINA.
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 3...
DISCUSSION...SURFACE LOW ON FRONT NWRN GA ENHANCING SHEAR WITH
RAPIDLY MOVING SUPERCELLS DEVELOPING ALONG/AHEAD OF COLD FRONT.
ALTHOUGH AIR MASS ONLY MARGINALLY UNSTABLE...SHEAR AND HIGH PW/S
SUPPORT ROTATING UPDRAFTS/SUPERCELLS AND THREAT OF TORNADOES AS
SYSTEM CONTINUES EWD.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24045.
...HALESSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 6, 10:43 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Dallas and 8 more | 2 hr |
| Jan 6, 3:03 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baldwin, Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Chilton and 24 more | 5 hr |
| Jan 6, 4:57 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Bibb, Calhoun, Cherokee, Chilton, Choctaw and 12 more | 93 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2009Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 2009Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 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.