Hail — Cherokee, Georgia

2008-05-20 · near Cherokee, Cherokee, Georgia

Event narrative

The Cherokee County Emergency Management Director observed baseball-sized hail fell just south of Holly Springs. The public reported penny-sized hail in Woodstock. Ping-pong ball-sized hail fell near the Bartow/Cherokee county line west of Cherokee. Radar supported that large hail, nickel-size or larger, fell across a large swath of the southern half of Cherokee county from near Lake Allatoona across Holly Springs, Lebanon, and Woodstock.

Wider weather episode

An active and very unstable northwest flow continued across the southeast United States as the polar vortex remained very strong in the northeast United States. A disturbance rotated around the back side of the upper low into the southeast United States during the afternoon and evening. Multiple complexes of severe thunderstorms developed across north and central Georgia during the mid to later afternoon as a result and moved southeast during the evening hours. Large hail was the primary severe weather element observed during this outbreak, however an EF2 tornado developed in Cherokee county and caused extensive damage to hundreds of homes. This was the 45th tornado of the spring season for north and central Georgia.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.1700, -84.6200)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 105726. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.