Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2021

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 145

May 4, 202149 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 4, 2021, 10:48 AM EDT for 49 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 4, 2021, 10:48 AM EDT (14:48 UTC)
Expired
May 4, 2021, 5:00 PM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 49 counties

Banks County, GA, Barrow County, GA, Bartow County, GA, Butts County, GA, Carroll County, GA, Catoosa County, GA, Chattooga County, GA, Cherokee County, GA, Clarke 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, Greene County, GA, Gwinnett County, GA, Hall County, GA, Haralson County, GA, Heard County, GA, Henry County, GA, Jackson County, GA, Jasper County, GA, Lumpkin County, GA, Madison County, GA, Morgan County, GA, Murray County, GA, Newton County, GA, Oconee County, GA, Oglethorpe County, GA, Paulding County, GA, Pickens County, GA, Polk County, GA, Rockdale County, GA, Spalding County, GA, Towns County, GA, Union County, GA, Walker County, GA, Walton County, GA, White County, GA, Whitfield County, GA

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:48 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
20%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
10%
Ten or more severe wind reports
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
10%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
60%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 4, 11:05 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCChattooga, Dade, Floyd, Walker, Whitfield25 min
May 4, 11:25 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCatoosa, Murray, Walker, Whitfield35 min
May 4, 12:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBartow, Cherokee, Dawson, Gilmer, Gordon, Pickens40 min
May 4, 12:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBartow, Cherokee, Cobb, Paulding, Polk31 min
May 4, 1:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCarroll, Cobb, Douglas, Haralson, Paulding32 min
May 4, 1:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCobb, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall38 min
May 4, 2:16 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBartow, Carroll, Floyd, Haralson, Paulding, Polk44 min
May 4, 2:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Cobb, Douglas, Fulton and 3 more48 min
May 4, 3:08 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningFFCBarrow, Carroll, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton and 6 more7 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, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 94 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 12:00Z on 2021-05-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 590 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 12:00Z on 2021-05-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 207 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
590 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-114 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
753 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
207 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
213 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

008 
WWUS20 KWNS 041442
SEL5  
SPC WW 041442
GAZ000-042100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 145
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
1045 AM EDT Tue May 4 2021

The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of 
  North Georgia

* Effective this Tuesday morning and afternoon from 1045 AM until
  500 PM EDT.

* Primary threats include...
  Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible
  A tornado or two possible

SUMMARY...Multiple clusters and linear segments should spread east
from north Alabama across north Georgia with a primary risk being
damaging winds and perhaps a brief tornado.

The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 55
statute miles north and south of a line from 20 miles south
southwest of Rome GA to 70 miles east northeast of Atlanta GA. For a
complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline
update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU5).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

REMEMBER...A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are
favorable for 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. Severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce
tornadoes.

&&

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 141...WW 142...WW
143...WW 144...

AVIATION...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
27035.

...Grams

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 4, 8:31 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDade89 min
May 4, 10:03 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBartow, Carroll, Chattooga, Cherokee, Cobb, Douglas and 8 more117 min
May 4, 1:21 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBanks, Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Clarke and 34 more114 min
May 4, 3:07 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBanks, Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Cherokee and 35 more113 min
May 4, 4:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBurke, Columbia, McDuffie, Richmond3 hr
May 4, 6:20 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaker, Bibb, Calhoun, Chattahoochee, Clay, Colquitt and 34 more85 min
May 4, 7:26 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBaker, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bibb, Bleckley, Brooks and 45 more6 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Georgia, 2021Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2021

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.