National Weather Service Issues Tornado Watch for GA, NC, and SC

The National Weather Service, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, (NOAA) has issued this update;

The NWS Storm Prediction Center in Norman, OK, has issued a tornado watch for portions of:

• Northern and Central Georgia.
• Far Western North Carolina.
• Far Nothwest South Carolina.

Effective this Wednesday morning and afternoon from 810 am until 400 pm est. You can expect tornadoes and hail to 1 inch in diameter with thunderstorm force wind gusts up to 70 mph, with the possibility of dangerous lightning in these areas.

The tornado watch area is approximately along and 65 statute miles east and west of a line from 80 miles north northwest of Athens, Georgia to 55 miles south southwest of Macon, Georgia.

Please 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.

Pre-frontal bands of convection continue to increase in coverage and intensity this morning from central/eastern Alabama into western Georgia, as a low-level confluence is enhanced downstream from the upper-level trough. The 12z soundings from BHM and FFC showed the presence of a moist boundary layer with the Mean Layer Convective Available Potential Energy (MLCAPE) ranging from around 250 J/KG over northern Georgia, to around 1000 J/KG over central Alabama.

The onset of boundary layer warming will support a gradual increase in instability today, and when coupled with the strong low-level and deep-layer shear observed by these soundings, the setup will be supportive of super-cells capable of tornadoes.

Georgia Counties Included In The Watch Are:

Baldwin, Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattahoochee, Chattooga, Cherokee, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Crawford, Dade, Dawson, Dekalb, Dooly, Douglas, Elbert, Fannin, Fayette, Floyd, Forsyth, Franklin, Fulton, Gilmer, Gordon, Greene, Gwinnett, Habersham, Hall, Hancock, Haralson, Harris, Hart, Heard, Henry, Houston, Jackson, Jasper, Jones, Lamar, Lumpkin, Macon, Madison, Marion, Meriwether, Monroe, Morgan, Murray, Muscogee, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Paulding, Peach, Pickens, Pike, Polk, Pulaski, Putnam, Rabun, Rockdale, Schley, Spalding, Stephens, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taliaferro, Taylor, Towns, Troup, Twiggs, Union, Upson, Walker, Walton, Webster, White, Whitfield, Wilkes and Wilkinson.

North Carolina Counties Included Are:

Graham, Jackson, Macon and Swain Counties.

And only one county in South Carolina was included, Oconee County

Jim Donahue Reporting