Thunderstorm Wind — Wilcox, Georgia

2017-01-21 · near Rochelle, Wilcox, Georgia

Event narrative

The Wilcox County Emergency Manager reported numerous trees blown down from Rochelle to Abbeville. Including 2 trees down in Rochelle and 1 down on Wilson Road and another on Owensboro Road between Rochelle and Abbeville.

Wider weather episode

Throughout the weekend of the 21st and 22nd, persistent southwesterly upper-level flow brought a series of strong short waves across the region. The atmosphere over central Georgia was unseasonably warm and unstable with strong low and mid-level shear. The first short wave generated a wave of severe thunderstorms across central and south Georgia through the morning and into the afternoon of the 21st that produced numerous tornadoes. Twenty three tornadoes were confirmed in the WFO Peachtree City warning area with 27 total tornadoes confirmed in the state of Georgia, both records for the number of tornadoes in a single day. A second, stronger short wave swept through during the late morning and afternoon of the 22nd bringing another round of severe weather to central and south Georgia. Additional tornadoes confirmed brought the 2-day total to 27 for the WFO Peachtree City warning area and 41 for the state of Georgia, both a record number for a 2 day period.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.9500, -83.4600)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 671709. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.