Atlanta Tornado and Storms

[bejohnson]

Here's is some raw video (http://mfile.akamai.com/12949/wmv/vod.ibsys.com/2008/0315/15602346.200k.asx) of the scene around the Georgia Dome. Phillips Arena, CNN Center and Centennial Park last night after the EF-2 tornado had hit the area.

Here's a link (http://mfile.akamai.com/12949/wmv/vod.ibsys.com/2008/0315/15606172.200k.asx) to a video of a very powerful meso-cyclonic thunderstorm that passed over Atlanta this afternoon. This storm took the same basic path that the tornado did last night. The RADAR showed that there was a tornado embedded in that rain shield.

The video was from a camera mounted at the Atlanta airport.


Here is a picture of a funnel cloud spotted near Pendergrass, GA in Jackson County.

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee158/bejohnson/funnelcloud.jpg


Hail falling in Hall County (Gainesville, GA)

http://icons-pe.wunderground.com/data/wximagenew/j/JoyBelle/38.jpg



2-inch hail

http://icons-pe.wunderground.com/data/wximagenew/j/JoyBelle/34.jpg

There were numerous storms in the northern third of Georgia that generated tornado warnings today.

[Manic Mouse]

I hope you were safely inside while all this was going on. Tornadoes can be mighty nasty. I wouldn't want to be caught outside during that hail.

[egarrard]

All we got was a little rain threatening to wash the trash away...

I'm glad we were far enough north to miss all the tornadoes!

http://www.cafes.net/egarrard/Rain_031508.jpg

[Salavat23]

This generally isn't the season for these storms in that region.

Something isn't right here...

[bejohnson]

This generally isn't the season for these storms in that region.

Something isn't right here...

March and April are the prime Spring tornado season in the Southeast.

It's the time of year that large masses of very warm and humid air from the Gulf of Mexico collides with very cold air from Canada. Also in the Spring the jet stream is still flowing over the region and this imparts more energy, turbulence and rotation into the storms that form from the collision of the air masses. The net result is heavy, severe meso-cyclonic thunderstorms and tornadoes. Later in April and May some of those thunderstorms may top out at 60,000 feet or more.

[Salavat23]

March and April are the prime Spring tornado season in the Southeast.

It's the time of year that large masses of very warm and humid air from the Gulf of Mexico collides with very cold air from Canada. Also in the Spring the jet stream is still flowing over the region and this imparts more energy, turbulence and rotation into the storms that form from the collision of the air masses. The net result is heavy, severe meso-cyclonic thunderstorms and tornadoes. Later in April and May some of those thunderstorms may top out at 60,000 feet or more.

Well Spring has not even begun yet;)

These storms can be expected in mid-April through May, not early March where winter snow is still in sight in numerous regions.

[bejohnson]

Here is another photo that was taken Saturday March 15th looking north up GA 400 from Atlanta.

http://icons-pe.wunderground.com/data/wximagenew/b/boyntonbeachboy/789.jpg

[egarrard]

Well Spring has not even begun yet;)

These storms can be expected in mid-April through May, not early March where winter snow is still in sight in numerous regions.Wrong. They can happen any time of the year. We had some bad ones about 15 years ago that flattened a lot of sub-divisions south of Nashville. That was right before Christmas.

Any time is Tornado Time in Tennessee. (And the Southeast!)

[bejohnson]

Shane Durrance was taking pictures of the lightning on Friday March 14th when he took this photo.

I have enhanced the photo by increasing the gamma to lighten the dark areas and have labeled the tornado and the rain core.

This is an amazing photo of the tornado as it is in the World Congress Center/Georgia Dome Area.

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee158/bejohnson/AtlantaTornadoEnhanced.jpg


Here is the original photo:
http://www.11alive.com/news/graphics/big_MG_6751.jpg

[bejohnson]

Here's the NWS Public Information Statement of the Atlanta tornado.

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
845 PM EDT SAT MAR 15 2008

...PRELIMINARY REPORT FOR MARCH 14TH CITY OF ATLANTA TORNADO...

A DAMAGE SURVEY TEAM FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS CONFIRMED THAT AN EF2 TORNADO TRACKED THROUGH THE HEART OF THE CITY OF ATLANTA BETWEEN 938 AND 950 PM EST

ON FRIDAY, MARCH 14TH.

THE TORNADO FIRST TOUCHED DOWN NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF SIMPSON AND BURBANK STREETS IN THE VINE CITY NEIGHBORHOOD AT APPROXIMATELY 938 PM. THE TORNADO THEN TRACKED DUE EAST OVER THE CENTER OF THE GEORGIA WORLD CONGRESS CENTER /ABOUT 100 YARDS NORTH OF THE GEORGIA DOME WHERE AN SEC BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT WAS TAKING PLACE/...ACROSS THE CNN/OMNI HOTEL COMPLEX AND PHILLIPS ARENA /WHERE AN NBA BASKETBALL GAME WAS UNDERWAY/...OVER THE EQUITABLE BANK TOWER...ACROSS I-85/75 AT THE EDGEWOOD EXIT...AND THEN INTO THE COTTON MILL LOFTS ACROSS FROM OAKLAND CEMETERY.

FROM THIS POINT...THE TORNADO WEAKENED BUT CAUSED SPOTTY TREE AND ROOF DAMAGE INTO EXTREME WESTERN DEKALB COUNTY NEAR THE JUNCTION OF BRAEBURN AND JOSEPHINE STREETS...WHERE IT LIFTED. THE TORNADO HAD A TOTAL PATH LENGTH OF SIX MILES AND A MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH OF 200 YARDS AT ITS
MAXIMUM STRENGTH. MAXIMUM WIND SPEEDS WERE ESTIMATED NEAR 130 MPH...WHICH IS A HIGH END EF2 ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE.

AS IT MOVED ACROSS THE GWCC/CNN/OMNI COMPLEX...THE TORNADO WIDTH WAS ABOUT 100 YARDS WIDE AND PRODUCED HIGH EF1 WINDS OF ABOUT 100 MPH.

AT LEAST 50 HOMES WERE DAMAGED BY THE TORNADO...AS WERE SEVERAL MULTI-STORY TOWERS AND COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS NEAR AND EAST OF THE CENTENNIAL OLYMPIC PARK. WINDOWS WERE BLOWN OUT OF MANY OF THE TOWERS...AT ALL HEIGHTS. DAMAGE IN RESIDENTIAL AND INDUSTRIAL AREAS RANGED FROM ROOFING MATERIALS BLOWN FROM HOMES AND BUSINESSES TO TREES FALLING ON STRUCTURES AND VEHICLES. THE COTTON MILL LOFTS EXPERIENCED THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE WITH THE ROOF BLOWN OFF AND EXTERIOR WALLS OF THE TOP /FOURTH/ FLOOR BLOWN INWARD. TWO SECTIONS OF THE FOURTH FLOOR COLLAPSED ALL THE WAY INTO BASEMENT OF THE BUILDING...TRAPPING SEVERAL PEOPLE IN THE COMPLEX.

NO WEATHER-RELATED FATALITIES WERE REPORTED WITH THE TORNADO...BUT NUMEROUS NON-LIFE-THREATING INJURIES OCCURRED.

THE NWS IS GRATEFUL TO THE ATLANTA POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR PROVIDING AERIAL SURVEY SUPPORT AND TO THE ATLANTA/FULTON COUNTY EMA FOR THEIR ASSISTANCE.

[Salavat23]

Wrong. They can happen any time of the year. We had some bad ones about 15 years ago that flattened a lot of sub-divisions south of Nashville. That was right before Christmas.

Any time is Tornado Time in Tennessee. (And the Southeast!)

Wrong??

Wrong that it is not Spring yet? :lmao

But those storms do not hit that early very often.

[bejohnson]

Wrong??

Wrong that it is not Spring yet? :lmao

But those storms do not hit that early very often.

Maybe not up north but here in the south we have the most tornadoes from February to June. Tornadoes can and do happen in all the months here. I can remember at least five that have happened in December, one on Christmas Eve.

The air masses start colliding in the south in late February and early March. It's those collisions that cause the severe thunderstorms that spawn the tornadoes. There are also air mass collisions in the Fall.

They have a name for the Southeast US. It's called the Dixie Alley. For Dixie Alley, we have two Severe Weather Seasons, Spring and Fall. Dixie Alley consist of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia. Tornado season is October to December and February to June and the worst of the storms often hit between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., according to a recent study by the National Weather Service.

Tornadoes can strike anywhere, at anytime, leaving disaster in their wakes. The typical months, or tornado season, runs from March through July in the Midwest, Southwest and Southeast. The states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas are at the greatest risk for a tornado during these months...(more (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/604127/tornado_season_how_to_prepare_for_potential.html))