Fayette and surrounding areas still under tornado watch

Fri, 04/04/2008 - 4:17pm
By: Cal Beverly

Fayette and surrounding counties are still under a tornado watch until 10 p.m. Friday, according to the National Weather Service office in Peachtree City.

That means that weather conditions in this area will be favorable for the development of severe thunderstorms, possibly including isolated tornadoes.

A “watch” differs from a “warning” in that a watch talks about possibilities while a warning means that an actual tornado has been detected or spotted.

Following is the text of the NWS alert:

“Scattered severe thunderstorms will be possible late this afternoon and evening across parts of north and central Georgia.

“Synopsis: A wedge of cool and stable air near the surface will retreat northward as a warm front by early afternoon as a cold front approaches from the west. The cold front is expected to push into northwest Georgia by this evening, then across central Georgia during the overnight hours.

“Primary hazards: The primary hazards from thunderstorms this afternoon and evening will be large hail, damaging winds and cloud-to-ground lightning. Moderate wind shear profiles in the low levels also suggest the potential for isolated tornadoes.

“The main threat appears to be generally west of an Americus to Macon to Gainesville to Blue Ridge line, and between the hours of 4 p.m. and midnight.

“Discussion: A cool wedge of high pressure over north and central Georgia is eroding as low levels winds gradually become southerly ahead of an approaching cold front. The warm, moist southerly winds, coupled with daytime heating, will increase area instabilities and help generate scattered thunderstorms along and ahead of a cold front that will push into northwest Georgia by late afternoon or early evening.

“Moderate instabilities ... coupled with added forcing from a 40 to 50 knot low level jet could be sufficient to support the development of isolated strong to severe thunderstorms.

“The primary threat may come from a squall line that develops just ahead of the cold front and moves into north and central Georgia during the evening hours. However, this threat could be preceded by a few isolated or discrete storms that develop ahead of the squall line, especially during the late afternoon and early evening hours.”

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muddle's picture
Submitted by muddle on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 4:11pm.

I'm sitting in the hospital at EMory and will b3e heading to Fayetteville at 6 pm. My son called from the Pavillion and said the tornado sirens were just going off. Whassup?

When tornado sirens went off near my other son's house in Rome, his three-year-old son was terrified and asked, "Are the tomatoes going to come and kill us?"

We're under an official tomato warning, as there was a tomato touchdown in the area.

This might be a crazier drive home than Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.


Main Stream's picture
Submitted by Main Stream on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 5:29pm.

"Are the tomatoes going to come and kill us?"

Your grandson sounds like a sweetie-pie, and your story reminded me of the 1978 cult classic movie, which of course I had to find a clip of on YouTube. Did you ever see this crazy movie?

THOSE KILLER TOMATOES - RUN!

btw - I hope your wife is okay and that her prognosis is positive! I sure wish she could beat this thing once and for all...

Have a good night...


Submitted by Sick of Fascists on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 10:19pm.

I couldn't eat it for years after watching that movie!

yardman5508's picture
Submitted by yardman5508 on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 9:41pm.

it's all about product placement. LOL Keep the faith.

Democracy is not a spectator sport.


muddle's picture
Submitted by muddle on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 5:51pm.

Here I sit in the parking lot of Whole Foods at Briarcliff and La Vista. This is definitely a sure sign of a blogging addiction!

My wife is picking up something for dinner before we head home. Looking off to my immediate west, the sky looks ominous.

Thanks for the good wishes for Mrs. Muddle. We're hopeful that they have this thing nailed this time. It is an infection that keeps attempting to return. It truly nearly killed her last Fall. Indeed, one of the doctors today recognized her from then. He freaked out over how good and healthy she looked, and said, "Last time I worked on you you were almost gone." (These EMory doctors tend to be as friendly as they are professional.)

I guess it really was mighty serious then.

Ah, and here comes the rain!


Submitted by oldbeachbear on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 7:13pm.

I hope they have it nailed down this time too. If it keeps coming back, try another teaching hospital in the South. Emory is good, but if it keeps recurring, another place and a second opinion might really put some light on it and help you sleep better. The reason I say 'teaching hospital' is that you have the head guy looking at you and all his little 'baby ducks'. Where one head is good, 10 are better. Enons ago, my Father got this really strange illness. After a year of going to different doctors back home, no one knew what was the matter, but they were all certain, he was dying.

A relative MD, talked to us and said if it was his Daddy, he'd take him to the University Medical center, which we did. Of all the big names we had taken him to, one little resident md decided to just run some off the wall test, and found what was wrong. My father had a form of cryptococcus. The type he had is extremely rare in the US and normally occurs in warmer, humid, tropical areas. There had only been something like 10 cases reported in the US up till that time. The type he had you only get from pigeons which were no where near us. It's a fungus that you breath, goes to your lungs, most lose a lung, and then goes to your brain. Long story short, this observant kid caught something that had gone past everyone else cause he thought 'outside the box'.
Today, we have so many people from other areas moving in, along with the climate changes, we are coming down with things never in this area before. So, if it still doesn't get better, try another medical center teaching hospital.

muddle's picture
Submitted by muddle on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 8:43pm.

Thanks.

Yes, it was one of those "little ducks" who may well have been instrumental in saving my wife's life back in September.

Several doctors had insisted that the only way to save her was with surgery. The surgeon himself--actually, the chief of general surgery at Emory--absolutely refused, saying that she was just too desperately ill to be expected to survive the trauma. (He was clearly right about this. I'm convinced that I would now be a widower had he given in on this.) This forced the other teams of doctors to get creative, and it was one of the residents--a young Asian doctor--who came up with a less invasive solution. The procedure that he conceived really turned things around. Her white cell count had shot up as high as 37k (where normal is less than 10k and more like 6 or 7). He turned that around so that it dropped through the 20s, teens and then down into the normal range. She got to leave the hospital in the passenger seat of our van rather than in the back of a black station wagon, and this was largely due to his efforts.

I would certainly consider trying another teaching hospital, but I am still far from losing confidence in these folks. The surgeon who has been involved in the problem-solving is, besides being brilliant (Emory stole him from Baylor-Houston just last year), very personally interested in her case and behaves as though it is his own sister that he is out to cure. And there are doctors involved in her case from other "teams" who are just as keenly interested. I fully expect them to beat it.


sniffles5's picture
Submitted by sniffles5 on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 5:34pm.

Thanks for taking me back to my college daze. I can't believe I paid two dollars to see that movie at the midnight showing at the Student Union. Sticking out tongue

What's next? Rocky Horror?

It's astounding....time is fleeting...


Submitted by IMNSHO on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 4:26pm.

...

BPR's picture
Submitted by BPR on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 4:18pm.

I live in Fayetteville, but close to PTC and Tyrone- I know it sounds strange- we can get to all three places fast.

I heard the sirens- called my husband- I think as of now it's a thunderstorm warning- there is a tornado watch- be careful coming home it's in a ton of counties- my husband is coming home from North Atlanta- my son is at the movies, I called him.

I looked at the map it says the same at the moment.

_______________________________
We Will Stand


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