I would never be without an alarm-equipped NOAA Weather Radio for just that reason. We issued warnings from 33 to 59 minutes in advance of these tornadoes touching down. With that kind of tornado warning we should be able to prevent most loss of life. This was a devastating tornado because it struck at night. According to NWS Storm Prediction Center Warning Coordination Meteorologist Dan McCarthy, nighttime tornadoes can be the most deadly since many people do not get the NWS watches and warnings.
Nighttime tornadoes seem to be more common in recent years.
For example, the 1998 tornado outbreaks in Birmingham, Alabama and Central Florida occurred at night totaled more than 98 fatalities in spite of NWS watches and warnings. A tornado watch was issued six hours prior to the tornadoes in Georgia. The powerful storm system moving through the southeastern United States spawned lines of severe thunderstorms and several tornadoes. Southwest Georgia was hard hit by two lines of severe thunderstorms. The NWS says the threat for severe weather has diminished in southern Georgia and northern Florida for today, however, a slight risk of additional severe weather continues for the eastern half of the Carolinas and southeastern Virginia.