Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog

Destructive thunderstorm rips Atlanta

Posted by: Dr. Jeff Masters, 02:40 PM GMT am 15. März 2008

A violent thunderstorm roared through downtown Atlanta at 9:40 pm Friday night, bringing tornado-force winds that injured 27 people and caused millions in damage. It is uncertain whether the wind damage was due to a tornado or a strong thunderstorm microburst. If it was a tornado, it was the only one for the day, since the Storm Prediction Center did not receive any other reports for tornadoes Friday. However, 96 reports of hail and 23 reports of damaging wind were received. Examination of the radar reflectivity loop shows the classic hook echo commonly accompanying tornadoes was present in the storm before and after it hit Atlanta, but not while it was over the city. The Doppler velocity loop shows that there was rotation associated with the thunderstorm that hit the city, and this rotation increased as the thunderstorm moved over the city. It is certainly possible that this thunderstorm spawned a tornado.

Figure 1. Radar reflectivity image of the March, 14, 2008 Atlanta, Georgia thunderstorm. No "hook" echo is evident in the image as the storm swept through Atlanta.

Figure 2. Doppler winds image of the March 14, 2008, Atlanta, Georgia thunderstorm. Note the region just northwest of the city showing blues and reds right next to each other, denoting strong winds moving both towards and away from the radar in a tight circulation. This is the signature associated with a mesocyclone--a rotating thunderstorm that commonly spawns tornadoes.

Severe weather is not done with the region yet--the Storm Prediction Center has placed northern Georgia and much of South Carolina under their "Moderate Risk" category for severe weather today, one level below the their highest level of risk. The Weather Underground Severe Weather page and Tornado page are good places to go to follow today's severe weather.

Jeff Masters

Wind damage over Cabbagetown (FrenchKheldar)

Possible tornado over Cabbagetown, a neighborhood east of Downtown Atlanta. Pictures taken around the block delimited by Mollie Street, Estoria and Gaskill.

Atlanta Tornado F2 (boyntonbeachboy)

The first recorded tornado hit downtown Atlanta last night causing major damage

Funnel Clouds today over Atlanta. looking North (boyntonbeachboy)

looking north up GA 400 i dont think this one touched the ground

Categories: Tornado

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201. sebastianjer 01:51 AM GMT am 17. März 2008
Hey MLC How you doing tonight? Member Since: August 26, 2005 Posts: 1030 Comments: 11197

202. moonlightcowboy 01:55 AM GMT am 17. März 2008
Hey, JER, good and you? Dreading this next run of severe weather! Member Since: Juli 9, 2006 Posts: 179 Comments: 28118

203. sebastianjer 01:58 AM GMT am 17. März 2008
Doing well thanks Well maybe it'll miss you, sorry gotta run. Have a good evening my friend JER Member Since: August 26, 2005 Posts: 1030 Comments: 11197

204. lindenii 01:59 AM GMT am 17. März 2008
JFLORIDA, Dude, you done stepped on it. Ice expands, which is why approximately 1/7 of an ice cube or iceberg is floating above the water. Ever heard of draining your outside water pipes before a freeze to prevent bursting of the pipes when they froze? Ever put a bottle of water in the freezer and forgotten it. I don't know about yours, but mine split wide open, and not just by a little. Years ago there was an appliance store in Huntington IN that lost power in a particularily cold winter and the pipes froze inside the building. When the power was restored and the heat came back on...guess what happened? The pipe thawed and the bottom floor was flooded with over six inches of water, destroying all of the appliances, Why on earth do we use ANTI-FREEZE in our automobiles. WHY??? BECAUSE ICE EXPANDS AND NOT BY JUST A LITTLE BIT, THATS WHY. Lets go over it one more time. Water expands when it turns into ice. A cubic foot of water will expand a predetermined amount and then when it returns to its liquid state the volume will revert of that same cubic foot volume. You are attempting to say that the cubic foot of water will expand when frozen and then when it thaws will not return to the same cubic foot but something else altogether different. Talk about GWT.

205. lindenii 02:03 AM GMT am 17. März 2008
Hey JER I get the subtle message. Sorry about being so long winded with this silly ice discussion. I realize nothing more can come of this discussion. So, I will stop now. Thanks for the hint.

206. Skyepony (Mod) 02:38 AM GMT am 17. März 2008
The southeast had it bad again on Saturday as well. The survey teams had another busy day. Peachtree, GA had 87 reports 1225 PM TORNADO 5 NW ARAGON 34.10N 85.12W 03/15/2008 F3 FLOYD GA NWS STORM SURVEY * 2 FATAL, 1 INJ * EF3 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR SH 101 AT THE POLK-FLOYD COUNTY LINE AND TRAVELED 16 MILES ACROSS FAR NRN POLK CO AND FAR SE FLOYD CO INTO SRN BARTOW CO...LIFTING JUST SE OF THE CARTERSVILLE AIRPORT AT 1245 PM. MAXIMUM WINDS WERE 150 MPH. MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH WAS 1/2 MILE. 20 HOMES DESTROYED. ONE FATALITY AND ONE CRITICAL INJURY OCCURRED BON LOOP ROAD WHEN A HOME WAS DESTROYED. ANOTHER FATALITY OCCURRED ON OLD WAX RD IN EXTREME SE FLOYD CO WHEN A HOME WAS DESTROYED. 0615 PM TORNADO 1 NW WRENS 33.22N 82.40W 03/15/2008 F2 JEFFERSON GA NWS STORM SURVEY EF2 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN 1 MILE NW OF WRENS AND TRAVELED 9 MILES BEFORE REACHING THE JEFFERSON-BURKE COUNTY LINE ABOUT 4 MILES EAST OF MATTHEWS AT 625 PM EDT. MAXIMUM WIND SPEEDS WERE ESTIMATED NEAR 120 MPH. THE MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH WAS 1/4 MILE. ROOFS WERE BLOWN OFF HOMES AND SEVERAL MOBILE HOMES WERE ROLLED OVER OR DESTROYED IN MATTHEWS. NUMEROUS TREES WERE DOWNED IN WRENS...SOME OF WHICH FELL ON HOMES AND STRUCTURES. Several tornados, lotta hail, largest 2 & 3/4". Member Since: August 10, 2005 Posts: 144 Comments: 29340

208. Inyo 05:10 AM GMT am 17. März 2008
I called my friend during the tornado, without knowing about it, and he was hiding in his bathroom from the Atlanta tornado. Thankfully it missed his house! Member Since: September 3, 2002 Posts: 42 Comments: 765

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