Tornado watch

UNDATED - More than 70 counties in north and central Georgia are under a tornado watch until 1:00 this afternoon.

The National Weather Service Storm says parts of other southeastern states are also included in the watch area.

The watch includes:

central and northern Georgia (See list of counties below.)
western North Carolina
western South Carolina
east Tennessee

Tornadoes... hail to 1 inch in diameter... thunderstorm wind gusts
to 70 mph... and dangerous lightning are possible in these areas.

The Tornado Watch area is approximately along and 60 statute
miles east and west of a line from 25 miles east northeast of
Knoxville Tennessee to 45 miles southeast of Columbus Georgia.
For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch
outline update (wous64 kwns wou2).

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.

Other watch information... continue... ww 711...

Discussion... ern al sqln with embedded supercells should continue
generally ENE into GA and the srn Appalachians through later this
morning. While boundary layer across that region is not as
warm/moist as in al... combination of elevated terrain... expected mid
lvl cooling ahead of W TN/nrn MS upr vort... and strength of low to
mid lvl wind field suggest continued risk for sustained
storms/supercells posing a risk for locally dmgg wind and isold
tornadoes. A threat for isold svr weather also will exist with any
sustained storms that might evolve along axis of confluence E of
sqln in ern al.

Aviation... tornadoes and a few severe thunderstorms with hail
surface and aloft to 1 inch. Extreme turbulence and surface wind
gusts to 60 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 450.
Mean storm motion vector 23035.

IN GEORGIA THIS WATCH INCLUDES 71 COUNTIES

IN CENTRAL GEORGIA

BALDWIN BIBB BLECKLEY
BUTTS CRAWFORD CRISP
DOOLY HOUSTON JASPER
JONES MONROE PEACH
PULASKI PUTNAM TWIGGS
WILCOX WILKINSON

IN EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA

GREENE HANCOCK TALIAFERRO
WILKES

IN NORTH CENTRAL GEORGIA

BARROW CHEROKEE CLAYTON
COBB DAWSON DEKALB
DOUGLAS FANNIN FAYETTE
FORSYTH FULTON GILMER
GWINNETT HALL HENRY
LUMPKIN MORGAN NEWTON
PICKENS ROCKDALE UNION
WALTON

IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA

BANKS CLARKE JACKSON
MADISON OCONEE OGLETHORPE
TOWNS WHITE

IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA

BARTOW GORDON MURRAY
PAULDING

IN WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA

CHATTAHOOCHEE COWETA LAMAR
MACON MARION MERIWETHER
MUSCOGEE PIKE SCHLEY
SPALDING STEWART SUMTER
TALBOT TAYLOR UPSON
WEBSTER

THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...ABBEVILLE...AMERICUS...ATLANTA...
BARNESVILLE...BLAIRSVILLE...BUENA VISTA...BUTLER...CALHOUN...
CARTERSVILLE...CHATSWORTH...CLEVELAND...COCHRAN...COLUMBUS...
COMER...COMMERCE...CONYERS...CORDELE...COVINGTON...CRAWFORD...
CRAWFORDVILLE...CUMMING...DAHLONEGA...DALLAS...DAWSONVILLE...
DECATUR...DOUGLASVILLE...EATONTON...ELLAVILLE...ELLIJAY...
FORSYTH...FORT BENNING...FORT VALLEY...GAINESVILLE...GRAY...
GREENSBORO...GRIFFIN...HAWKINSVILLE...HIAWASSEE...HOMER...
JACKSON...JASPER...JEFFERSONVILLE...LAWRENCEVILLE...MACON...
MADISON...MANCHESTER...MARIETTA...MILLEDGEVILLE...MONROE...
MONTEZUMA...MONTICELLO...NEWNAN...PEACHTREE CITY...PRESTON...
RICHLAND...RIVERDALE...ROBERTA...SPARTA...STOCKBRIDGE...
TALBOTTON...THOMASTON...TOOMSBORO...VIENNA...WARNER ROBINS...
WASHINGTON...WATKINSVILLE...WINDER...WINTERVILLE...
WOODSTOCK AND ZEBULON.