Pike under Tornado Watch until 10 p.m.

The National Weather Service issued a Tornado Watch for Pike and surrounding counties until 10 p.m. Tuesday. Forty-eight counties in Georgia are under the tornado watch and millions are threatened by thunderstorm damage. A tornado watch is issued when weather conditions are favorable for the development of severe thunderstorms that are capable of producing tornadoes. A tornado watch therefore implies that it is also a severe thunderstorm watch. A watch does not mean that the severe weather is actually occurring, only that atmospheric conditions have created a significant risk for it. If severe weather actually does occur, a tornado warning or severe thunderstorm warning would then be issued.