Hail — Paulding, Georgia

2011-06-15 · near Yorkville, Paulding, Georgia

Event narrative

The public observed golf ball-sized hail in the eastern part of Paulding county near Hiram and a cooperative observer reported quarter-sized hail near New Hope. This was the second severe thunderstorm to move across Paulding county this evening. WSR-88D radar data strongly suggested that hail of quarter-size or larger likely impacted a large portion of the county from Yorkville to Hiram.

Wider weather episode

An unusually active northwest flow was present across the eastern U.S. on the east side of a strong subtropical ridge anchored in the southwest U.S. A weak stationary front was draped across west central and central Georgia. A strong disturbance near the Great Lakes was tracking through the flow. A very warm, moist, and unstable atmosphere was in place across Georgia. The strong disturbance moving through the area combined with the unstable atmosphere and the weak stationary front to provide for widespread strong to severe thunderstorms. During the initial development phase of this event, through the afternoon and early evening, the primary form of severe weather was in the form of large hail. As the evening progressed, the convective activity took on an increasingly linear organization producing significant and widespread damaging straight-line winds. The main focus of the activity was across the northeast half of the state. While the activity diminished overnight, it redeveloped on the 16th in two waves. One round of isolated severe thunderstorms affected the west central part of the state during the mid-morning hours, while another round of isolated severe thunderstorms affected the south central and southeast parts of Middle Georgia during the early evening.

This was the second consecutive year where June 15th turned out to be one of the most significant severe weather days of the summer.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.9200, -84.9800)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 322525. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.