Hail — Coweta, Georgia

2009-02-18 · near Madras, Coweta, Georgia

Event narrative

Very large hail was observed in far northeast Coweta county. Numerous reports of large hail were also received from northeast Coweta county. The hail fell from a supercell that tracked across the northeast part of the county from just south of Palmetto, along the Fulton-Coweta county line to just east of Cannongate along the Fayette county line. The large hail storm continued into northern Fayette county as well. The Coweta County Emergency Management County Director reported 4.25 inch diameter hail approximately four miles northeast of Madras near the Fulton county line. Several reports of golf ball-sized hail were received from the public in the Cannongate area. Extensive damage to roofs and windows of homes was reported from the area.

Wider weather episode

A strong cold front accompanied and deep negatively tilted upper trough through the eastern U.S. from the 18th into the 19th. An unseasonably warm and unstable air mass developed in advance of the cold front during the late afternoon and early evening across north and central Georgia as warm, moist air rode northward into Georgia on a strong low-level jet. Afternoon temperatures in the 70s and dewpoints in the 60s, combined with strong shear and moderate instability, resulted in the development of numerous supercell thunderstorms from mid-afternoon until a few hours after midnight on the 19th. Ten tornadoes, ranging in scale from EF0 to EF3 tracked across several north and central Georgia counties. The worst tornadoes affected the east central Georgia counties of Jasper, Putnam, Hancock, and Jasper. A death was observed in Hancock county with an EF3 tornado and several injuries were reported from Putnam and Hancock counties. In addition to the tornadoes, very large hail occurred with several of the thunderstorms, including four-inch diameter hail in Coweta and Fayette counties just south of Atlanta. Numerous reports of golf ball and larger-sized hail were received. The event resulted in millions of dollars of damage and the destruction of several homes in north and central Georgia counties.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.4709, -84.6809)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 152858. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.