Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2016
Tornado Watch 73
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 31, 2016, 8:14 PM CDT for 4 states. It was in force for 18 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 31, 2016, 8:14 PM CDT (01:14 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 1, 2016, 1:50 PM CDT
- In force
- 18 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 96 counties
Barbour County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Lee County, AL, Macon County, AL, Pike County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Russell County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Banks County, GA, Barrow County, GA, Bartow County, GA, Bibb County, GA, Butts County, GA, Carroll County, GA, Catoosa County, GA, Chattahoochee County, GA, Chattooga County, GA, Cherokee County, GA, Clarke County, GA, Clayton County, GA, Cobb County, GA, Coweta County, GA, Crawford 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, Greene County, GA, Gwinnett County, GA, Hall County, GA, Haralson County, GA, Harris County, GA, Heard County, GA, Henry County, GA, Jackson County, GA, Jasper County, GA, Jones County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Lumpkin County, GA, Macon County, GA, Madison County, GA, Marion County, GA, Meriwether County, GA, Monroe County, GA, Morgan County, GA, Murray County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Newton County, GA, Oconee County, GA, Oglethorpe County, GA, Paulding County, GA, Peach County, GA, Pickens County, GA, Pike County, GA, Polk County, GA, Putnam County, GA, Rockdale County, GA, Schley County, GA, Spalding County, GA, Stewart County, GA, Sumter County, GA, Talbot County, GA, Taylor County, GA, Towns County, GA, Troup County, GA, Union County, GA, Upson County, GA, Walker County, GA, Walton County, GA, Webster County, GA, White County, GA, Whitfield County, GA, Cherokee County, NC, Clay County, NC, Bledsoe County, TN, Bradley County, TN, Hamilton County, TN, Marion County, TN, McMinn County, TN, Meigs County, TN, Polk County, TN, Rhea County, TN, Sequatchie County, TN
The radar
The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 63 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:17 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
- 70%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 10%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 20%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 5%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 90%
Warnings issued inside it
4 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 31, 11:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Elmore, Macon, Montgomery, Tallapoosa | 43 min |
| Apr 1, 1:57 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | FFC | Crawford, Marion, Talbot, Taylor, Upson | 33 min |
| Apr 1, 5:54 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | FFC | Crawford, Peach, Taylor | 36 min |
| Apr 1, 6:30 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | FFC | Houston, Peach, Twiggs | 30 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, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 68 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
- 138 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -65 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 960 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 55 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 260 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 286 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 2.0
The text
As transmitted.
326 WWUS20 KWNS 010112 SEL3 SPC WW 010112 ALZ000-GAZ000-NCZ000-TNZ000-010900- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 73 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 915 PM EDT THU MAR 31 2016 THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN ALABAMA WESTERN AND NORTHERN GEORGIA FAR SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA SOUTHERN EAST TENNESSEE * EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY MORNING FROM 915 PM UNTIL 500 AM EDT. * PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE... A COUPLE TORNADOES POSSIBLE SCATTERED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH LIKELY ISOLATED LARGE HAIL EVENTS TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE SUMMARY...THUNDERSTORMS IN CLUSTERS...SHORT LINES...AND A FEW DISCRETE SUPERCELLS EXPECTED TO MOVE / DEVELOP GENERALLY EAST INTO WATCH AREA THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT. SOME STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF LOCALLY DAMAGING WIND...TORNADOES...AND MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF TROY ALABAMA TO 40 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF CHATTANOOGA TENNESSEE. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU3). PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... 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 69...WW 70...WW 71...WW 72... 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 550. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26030. ...CORFIDI
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 31, 7:41 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, DeKalb and 6 more | 94 min |
| Mar 31, 10:11 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Bullock, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton and 14 more | 64 min |
| Apr 1, 2:03 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Bullock, Dallas, Elmore, Lee, Lowndes and 5 more | 57 min |
| Apr 1, 4:46 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Bullock, Coffee, Crenshaw, Dale, Henry and 2 more | 89 min |
| Apr 1, 6:26 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston | 12 hr |
| Apr 1, 10:40 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston and 2 more | 2 hr |
| Apr 1, 1:00 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Henry, Houston | 60 min |
| Mar 31, 7:09 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brooks, Colquitt, Cook, Decatur, Grady, Lowndes and 3 more | 96 min |
| Apr 1, 12:31 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Bleckley, Burke, Columbia, Dodge, Elbert and 18 more | 89 min |
| Apr 1, 1:48 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Ben Hill, Berrien and 50 more | 6 hr |
| Apr 1, 4:40 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brantley, Bryan, Camden, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch and 9 more | 65 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2016Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2016Tornado Watches in Tennessee, 2016Every tornado watch in 2016
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.