Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2023

Tornado Watch 63

March 3, 20235 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 3, 2023, 2:41 PM EST for 5 states. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 3, 2023, 2:41 PM EST (19:41 UTC)
Expired
Mar 3, 2023, 8:00 PM EST
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
65 kt
All 77 counties

Banks County, GA, Barrow County, GA, Clarke County, GA, Cobb County, GA, Dawson County, GA, DeKalb County, GA, Douglas County, GA, Elbert County, GA, Forsyth County, GA, Franklin County, GA, Fulton County, GA, Gwinnett County, GA, Habersham County, GA, Hall County, GA, Hart County, GA, Jackson County, GA, Lumpkin County, GA, Madison County, GA, Oconee County, GA, Oglethorpe County, GA, Rabun County, GA, Rockdale County, GA, Stephens County, GA, Towns County, GA, Union County, GA, Walton County, GA, White County, GA, Avery County, NC, Buncombe County, NC, Burke County, NC, Caldwell County, NC, Clay County, NC, Cleveland County, NC, Graham County, NC, Haywood County, NC, Henderson County, NC, Jackson County, NC, Macon County, NC, Madison County, NC, McDowell County, NC, Mitchell County, NC, Polk County, NC, Rutherford County, NC, Swain County, NC, Transylvania County, NC, Yancey County, NC, Abbeville County, SC, Anderson County, SC, Cherokee County, SC, Greenville County, SC, Greenwood County, SC, Laurens County, SC, Oconee County, SC, Pickens County, SC, Spartanburg County, SC, Union County, SC, Carter County, TN, Claiborne County, TN, Cocke County, TN, Grainger County, TN, Greene County, TN, Hamblen County, TN, Hancock County, TN, Hawkins County, TN, Jefferson County, TN, Johnson County, TN, Sevier County, TN, Sullivan County, TN, Unicoi County, TN, Washington County, TN, City of Bristol, VA, City of Norton, VA, Lee County, VA, Russell County, VA, Scott County, VA, Washington County, VA, Wise County, VA

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:45 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
30%
Ten or more severe wind reports
60%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
5%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 3, 2:58 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatMRXAnderson, Blount, Knox, Loudon, Monroe, Roane and 2 more47 min
Mar 3, 3:14 PM ESTTornado WarningFFCBartow, Cherokee, Dawson, Gilmer, Gordon, Pickens31 min
Mar 3, 3:16 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatFFCBartow, Cherokee, Dawson, Fannin, Gilmer, Gordon and 4 more44 min
Mar 3, 3:33 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatMRXCocke, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins and 4 more42 min
Mar 3, 3:34 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPGraham, Jackson, Macon, Swain41 min
Mar 3, 3:45 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Cobb, Haralson, Paulding and 1 more45 min
Mar 3, 3:52 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCDawson, Fannin, Gilmer, Lumpkin, Pickens, Towns and 2 more38 min
Mar 3, 4:05 PM ESTTornado WarningFFCCherokee, Forsyth25 min
Mar 3, 4:06 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCarroll, Douglas, Haralson, Heard39 min
Mar 3, 4:08 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPHaywood, Jackson, Swain42 min
Mar 3, 4:11 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCherokee, Cobb, Dawson, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett and 2 more49 min
Mar 3, 4:18 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPHabersham, Rabun57 min
Mar 3, 4:22 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatMRXCherokee, Clay23 min
Mar 3, 4:29 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHall, White31 min
Mar 3, 4:31 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCarroll, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton, Paulding44 min
Mar 3, 4:34 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCLumpkin, White26 min
Mar 3, 4:37 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPHaywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain, Transylvania38 min
Mar 3, 4:37 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXSullivan, Washington38 min
Mar 3, 4:41 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPBuncombe, Madison, Mitchell, Yancey64 min
Mar 3, 4:55 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHall, Lumpkin, White18 min
Mar 3, 5:00 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCherokee, Cobb, Dawson, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett and 1 more27 min
Mar 3, 5:14 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPHabersham, Rabun, Stephens46 min
Mar 3, 6:01 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPAnderson, Greenville, Oconee, Pickens44 min
Mar 3, 6:36 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCleveland, Gaston, Rutherford39 min
Mar 3, 6:40 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPAbbeville, Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville, Laurens, Spartanburg and 1 more65 min
Mar 3, 7:21 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCherokee, Spartanburg, Union, York39 min
Mar 3, 7:22 PM ESTTornado WarningGSPLaurens, Spartanburg, Union23 min
Mar 3, 7:44 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCherokee, Chester, Laurens, Spartanburg, Union, York61 min
Mar 3, 7:58 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPGreenwood, Laurens21 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 245 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2023-03-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2023-03-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 184 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
705 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
90 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
184 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
354 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 3, 11:15 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDade3 hr
Mar 3, 11:34 AM ESTTornado WatchSPCBartow, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Dade and 12 more5 hr
Mar 3, 1:07 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChattooga, Dade, Floyd, Walker83 min
Mar 3, 2:12 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBartow, Cherokee, Cobb, Dawson, DeKalb, Fannin and 12 more93 min
Mar 3, 4:41 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBanks, Barrow, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Dawson and 19 more94 min
Mar 3, 5:01 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBallard, Butler, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Christian and 22 more2 hr
Mar 3, 7:24 AM ESTTornado WatchSPCBreckinridge, Butler, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Christian and 25 more7 hr
Mar 3, 12:07 PM ESTTornado WatchSPCAdair, Allen, Anderson, Barren, Bath, Bell and 62 more4 hr
Mar 3, 12:44 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBreckinridge, Butler, Caldwell, Christian, Crittenden, Daviess and 9 more2 hr
Mar 3, 2:40 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Boone, Bracken, Breckinridge, Bullitt, Campbell and 26 more3 hr
Mar 3, 3:19 PM ESTTornado WatchSPCBoone, Boyd, Bracken, Breathitt, Campbell, Carroll and 26 more4 hr
Mar 3, 4:53 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBoyd, Bracken, Campbell, Carter, Fleming, Greenup and 4 more2 hr
Mar 3, 12:51 AM ESTTornado WatchSPCLauderdale, Shelby, Tipton8 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2023Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2023Tornado Watches in Tennessee, 2023Every tornado watch in 2023

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.