Hail — Bibb, Georgia

2011-03-26 · near Lizella, Bibb, Georgia

Event narrative

Several reports of golf ball-sized hail were received from the western half of Bibb county from Lizella and Lake Tobesofkee to near Macon. There was even one report of tennis-ball-sized hail near Lizella. The hail decreased to quarter size as the storm moved into the western suburbs of Macon and to nickel size as it moved further into Macon. However, there were several reports within the city of Macon of hail covering the ground like snow. Nickel-sized hail was observed at the terminal station in downtown Macon. There was also one report of a damaged camper at a campground near Macon caused by a downed tree.

Wider weather episode

A quasi-stationary frontal boundary extended from north Texas to north Georgia early on the 26th. The front took two to three days to move from north Georgia southward to the Gulf Coast. The upper flow was highly zonal, but embedded with numerous vigorous short waves. An unseasonably warm, unstable air mass presided south of the frontal boundary. Numerous areas and complexes of thunderstorms developed in waves repeatedly along the front boundary and plagued north and central Georgia for two to three days. Many counties across the area were impacted by golf ball and larger hail. There was one report of hail over four inches in diameter in west central Georgia near Newnan. While hail was the predominate severe weather type with this outbreak, there were several reports of damaging winds and even one tornado in central Georgia. In addition, there were several lightning incidents as many of the storms produced intense cloud-to-ground lightning.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.8000, -83.8717)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 290009. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.