Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2021
Tornado Watch 127
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 3, 2021, 9:29 AM CDT for 12 counties in Alabama; 51 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 3, 2021, 9:29 AM CDT (14:29 UTC)
- Expired
- May 3, 2021, 2:23 PM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 63 counties
Bullock County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Lee County, AL, Macon County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Russell County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Baldwin County, GA, Barrow County, GA, Bartow County, GA, Bibb County, GA, Butts County, GA, Carroll County, GA, Chattahoochee County, GA, Cherokee County, GA, Clarke County, GA, Clayton County, GA, Cobb County, GA, Coweta County, GA, Crawford County, GA, DeKalb County, GA, Douglas County, GA, Fayette County, GA, Floyd County, GA, Forsyth County, GA, Fulton County, GA, Greene County, GA, Gwinnett County, GA, Hancock County, GA, Haralson County, GA, Harris County, GA, Heard County, GA, Henry County, GA, Jasper County, GA, Jones County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Marion County, GA, Meriwether County, GA, Monroe County, GA, Morgan County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Newton County, GA, Oconee County, GA, Oglethorpe County, GA, Paulding County, GA, Pike County, GA, Polk County, GA, Putnam County, GA, Rockdale County, GA, Spalding County, GA, Talbot County, GA, Taliaferro County, GA, Taylor County, GA, Troup County, GA, Upson County, GA, Walton County, GA, Warren County, GA, Wilkes County, GA
The radar
The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:31 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
- 50%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 40%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 30%
- 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
- 50%
Warnings issued inside it
13 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 9:44 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | FFC | DeKalb, Fulton | 31 min |
| May 3, 10:10 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | DeKalb, Gwinnett | 32 min |
| May 3, 10:38 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | DeKalb, Gwinnett, Rockdale | 37 min |
| May 3, 10:53 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Barrow, Gwinnett, Rockdale, Walton | 37 min |
| May 3, 11:28 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | FFC | Carroll, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Forsyth and 5 more | 8 hr |
| May 3, 11:36 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Barrow, Clarke, Jackson, Madison, Oglethorpe | 24 min |
| May 3, 11:42 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | FFC | Clarke, Jackson, Madison, Oglethorpe | 33 min |
| May 3, 12:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Butts, Jasper, Lamar, Monroe, Spalding | 42 min |
| May 3, 12:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Clarke, Madison, Oglethorpe | 28 min |
| May 3, 12:26 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FFC | Butts, Jasper | 34 min |
| May 3, 12:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Madison, Oglethorpe | 33 min |
| May 3, 12:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Baldwin, Jasper, Jones, Monroe, Putnam | 34 min |
| May 3, 2:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Baldwin, Glascock, Hancock, Jefferson, Washington | 39 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, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 65 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
- 674 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -54 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 671 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 207 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 272 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.8
- Supercell composite
- 4.8
The text
As transmitted.
155 WWUS20 KWNS 031426 SEL7 SPC WW 031426 ALZ000-GAZ000-032000- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 127 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 1030 AM EDT Mon May 3 2021 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Tornado Watch for portions of East-central Alabama Northern and central Georgia * Effective this Monday morning and afternoon from 1030 AM until 400 PM EDT. * Primary threats include... A few tornadoes and a couple intense tornadoes possible Isolated damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible SUMMARY...Multiple supercells may continue to produce tornadoes in clusters across east-central Alabama through northern and central Georgia. The tornado watch area is approximately along and 75 statute miles east and west of a line from 20 miles south of Auburn AL to 35 miles west northwest of Athens GA. For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU7). 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. && 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 550. Mean storm motion vector 26025. ...Grams
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 11:45 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Colbert, Franklin, Marion | 2 hr |
| May 3, 10:38 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Butler, Clarke, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Dallas and 7 more | 97 min |
| May 3, 11:47 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Butler and 46 more | 10 hr |
| May 3, 4:00 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun and 38 more | 90 min |
| May 3, 9:04 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barrow, Butts, Carroll, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta and 15 more | 86 min |
| May 3, 10:20 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clayton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Rockdale | 55 min |
| May 3, 12:03 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barrow, Butts, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Columbia and 30 more | 87 min |
| May 3, 12:25 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Burke, Columbia, Elbert, Lincoln, McDuffie, Richmond | 6 hr |
| May 3, 2:05 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Barrow, Bibb, Butts, Carroll, Chattahoochee and 36 more | 55 min |
| May 3, 2:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Baldwin, Barrow, Bibb, Butts, Carroll, Chattahoochee and 55 more | 6 hr |
| May 3, 3:26 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Richmond | 94 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2021Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2021Every tornado 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.