Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2026
Tornado Watch 188
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 6, 2026, 6:47 PM EDT for 71 counties in Georgia; 4 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 6, 2026, 6:47 PM EDT (22:47 UTC)
- Expired
- May 7, 2026, 2:00 AM EDT
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 75 counties
Banks County, GA, Barrow County, GA, Bartow County, GA, Butts County, GA, Carroll County, GA, Chattahoochee County, GA, Chattooga County, GA, Cherokee County, GA, Clarke County, GA, Clayton County, GA, Cobb County, GA, Coweta County, GA, Dawson County, GA, DeKalb County, GA, Douglas County, GA, Elbert County, GA, Fannin County, GA, Fayette County, GA, Floyd County, GA, Forsyth County, GA, Franklin County, GA, Fulton County, GA, Gilmer County, GA, Gordon County, GA, Greene County, GA, Gwinnett County, GA, Habersham County, GA, Hall County, GA, Haralson County, GA, Harris County, GA, Hart County, GA, Heard County, GA, Henry County, GA, Jackson County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Lee County, GA, Lumpkin County, GA, Madison County, GA, Marion County, GA, Meriwether County, GA, Morgan County, GA, Murray County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Newton County, GA, Oconee County, GA, Oglethorpe County, GA, Paulding County, GA, Pickens County, GA, Pike County, GA, Polk County, GA, Quitman County, GA, Rabun County, GA, Randolph County, GA, Rockdale County, GA, Schley County, GA, Spalding County, GA, Stephens County, GA, Stewart County, GA, Sumter County, GA, Talbot County, GA, Taylor County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Towns County, GA, Troup County, GA, Union County, GA, Upson County, GA, Walton County, GA, Webster County, GA, White County, GA, Whitfield County, GA, Wilkes County, GA, Abbeville County, SC, Anderson County, SC, Oconee County, SC, Pickens County, SC
The radar
The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 31 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:49 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
- 30%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 40%
- 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
- 10%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 70%
Warnings issued inside it
7 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 7:09 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Fannin, Gilmer, Union | 36 min |
| May 6, 7:20 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Chattahoochee, Stewart | 21 min |
| May 6, 7:33 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Lumpkin, Towns, Union, White | 27 min |
| May 6, 7:39 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Dawson, Fannin, Gilmer, Lumpkin, Pickens, Union | 36 min |
| May 6, 7:52 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Habersham, Rabun, Stephens | 42 min |
| May 6, 8:03 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Hall, Lumpkin, White | 22 min |
| May 6, 10:47 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Dooly, Houston, Macon, Marion, Schley, Sumter and 1 more | 43 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, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 31 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
- 727 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -13 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 925 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 65 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 208 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 233 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.9
- Supercell composite
- 7.1
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 1:54 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Colbert, Lauderdale | 2 hr |
| May 6, 12:57 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Choctaw, Clarke, Greene, Marengo, Mobile, Sumter and 1 more | 3 hr |
| May 6, 3:39 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Butler and 45 more | 8 hr |
| May 6, 4:14 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Choctaw, Washington | 2 hr |
| May 6, 5:37 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Butler and 37 more | 113 min |
| May 6, 5:45 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cherokee, DeKalb, Jackson | 2 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2026Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 2026Every tornado watch in 2026
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.