Thunderstorm Wind — Cherokee, Georgia

2008-07-07 · near Victoria, Cherokee, Georgia

Event narrative

The Cherokee County Emergency Management Director conducted a survey of extensive thunderstorm wind damage across south central Cherokee county in the Towne Lake area, just west and northwest of Woodstock. The damage area, oriented from northwest to southeast, was bounded on the northwest by Eagle Watch Drive and Running Deer Parkway on the southeast, or about one mile west Interstate 75. It was concluded that the damage was caused by thunderstorm downburst winds between 58 and 65 mph. Damage was very extensive with 800 to 100 trees either blown down or snapped in half. Many of the trees fell on residential homes causing significant damage. All together, 196 homes were damaged, 14 sustaining major damage and 132 with minor damage.

Wider weather episode

An upper-low continued to sink slowly south from the mid-Atlantic region into the southeast United States. This combined with the usual July heat and humidity allowed for pulse thunderstorms to develop as usual. A few of these became severe and produced marginal severe hail, wind damage, and intense lightning. One significant downburst was observed in southern Cherokee county where nearly 1000 trees were blown down, causing extensive damage to hundreds of homes.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.1355, -84.5636)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 123850. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.