Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2023

Tornado Watch 8

January 3, 202319 counties in Alabama; 63 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jan 3, 2023, 12:56 PM CST for 19 counties in Alabama; 63 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jan 3, 2023, 12:56 PM CST (18:56 UTC)
Expired
Jan 3, 2023, 8:00 PM CST
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 82 counties

Barbour County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Lee County, AL, Macon County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Pike County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Russell County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, 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, Crisp County, GA, Dade County, GA, Dawson County, GA, DeKalb County, GA, Dooly County, GA, Douglas County, GA, Fayette County, GA, Floyd County, GA, Forsyth County, GA, Fulton County, GA, Gilmer County, GA, Gordon County, GA, Gwinnett County, GA, Hall County, GA, Haralson County, GA, Harris County, GA, Heard County, GA, Henry County, GA, Houston County, GA, Jackson County, GA, Jasper County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Macon 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, Paulding County, GA, Peach County, GA, Pickens County, GA, Pike County, GA, Polk County, GA, Rockdale County, GA, Schley County, GA, Spalding County, GA, Stewart County, GA, Sumter County, GA, Talbot County, GA, Taylor County, GA, Troup County, GA, Upson County, GA, Walker County, GA, Walton County, GA, Webster County, GA, Whitfield County, GA

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:58 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
60%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
60%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
20%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
80%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 3, 1:23 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCatoosa, Dade, Walker, Whitfield52 min
Jan 3, 1:37 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXCoosa30 min
Jan 3, 1:39 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXElmore51 min
Jan 3, 1:53 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCatoosa, Chattooga, Gordon, Murray, Walker, Whitfield37 min
Jan 3, 2:02 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega28 min
Jan 3, 2:09 PM CSTTornado WarningFFCMurray, Whitfield10 min
Jan 3, 2:22 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXCoosa, Elmore, Tallapoosa17 min
Jan 3, 2:31 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay44 min
Jan 3, 2:38 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXElmore, Montgomery27 min
Jan 3, 2:38 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXClay21 min
Jan 3, 2:54 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXBullock, Macon35 min
Jan 3, 2:56 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers, Tallapoosa64 min
Jan 3, 3:19 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCleburne, Randolph38 min
Jan 3, 3:21 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCChattahoochee, Marion, Muscogee24 min
Jan 3, 3:21 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHarris, Troup39 min
Jan 3, 3:27 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLee, Russell48 min
Jan 3, 3:28 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXChambers, Randolph25 min
Jan 3, 3:28 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCarroll, Haralson, Heard47 min
Jan 3, 3:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers, Lee43 min
Jan 3, 3:54 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBullock, Russell51 min
Jan 3, 4:02 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCChattahoochee, Marion, Stewart28 min
Jan 3, 4:11 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCMarion, Talbot, Taylor34 min
Jan 3, 4:12 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCarroll, Coweta, Douglas, Fulton33 min
Jan 3, 4:24 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCoweta, Fayette36 min
Jan 3, 4:27 PM CSTTornado WarningFFCTalbot, Taylor, Upson21 min
Jan 3, 4:38 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXBarbour, Bullock, Pike35 min
Jan 3, 4:39 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCClayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton, Paulding36 min
Jan 3, 4:52 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCClayton, Coweta, Fayette, Henry, Spalding23 min
Jan 3, 4:54 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMacon, Montgomery19 min
Jan 3, 5:05 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRussell53 min
Jan 3, 5:12 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBibb, Crawford33 min
Jan 3, 5:25 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCChattahoochee, Marion, Muscogee17 min
Jan 3, 5:56 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCChattahoochee, Stewart34 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, 6.9 hours before the alert went out and 81 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 2023-01-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 148 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 2023-01-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 304 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
148 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-123 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
538 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
304 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
331 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 3, 7:56 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Marion2 hr
Jan 3, 9:14 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Bibb, Blount, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke and 30 more8 hr
Jan 3, 11:38 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBibb, Choctaw, Clarke, Dallas, Greene, Hale and 7 more97 min
Jan 3, 12:29 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee and 15 more91 min
Jan 3, 2:07 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Calhoun, Chambers, Chilton, Clarke, Clay and 13 more113 min
Jan 3, 2:54 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Bullock, Butler, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington and 8 more2 hr
Jan 3, 3:20 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCButler, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale and 4 more5 hr
Jan 3, 5:19 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Crawford, Crisp and 25 more86 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2023Tornado Watches in Alabama, 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.