Hail in Fayette County, Georgia

Numerous reports of very large hail were received from the Fayette County Emergency Management Director, the public, and off-duty National Weather Service employees across the northern part of the county from Tyronne, across the Sandy Creek and Lees Mill area, east-southeast toward Fayetteville, and to just east-southeast of Fayetteville. Most of the hail ranged in size from 2.75 to 3.0 inches throughout this area. Extensive damage was observed to the roofs and windows of homes and automobiles along the path of the supercell thunderstorm. The Fayette County Emergency Management Director reported that at least $250,000 in damages along was observed to county school skylights and windows. The public reported extensive damage to the roofs and windows of homes across the northern portion of the county.

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.