Thunderstorm Wind — Fulton, Georgia

2008-02-26 · near Roswell, Fulton, Georgia

Event narrative

The Fulton County Emergency Management Director reported that the same squall line that rolled through several west central and northwest Georgia counties early in the morning caused extensive damage across Fulton county as well. More than 50 trees were down across the county with at least 20 structures sustaining damage. A number of power lines were also down across these areas. The most concentrated damage continued from northeast Cobb county, within a 0.3 to 1.0 mile wide path, into north Fulton county from the Fulton/Cobb county line west of Roswell to just north of downtown Roswell. This portion of the damage was a continuation of the survey conducted by The Weather Channel. Hundreds of trees were blown down, several on homes. More than 300 trees along were blown down in 80-acre Roswell Park on Woodstock Road. The downed trees caused extensive damage to facilities within the park, including a children's playground, picnic shelters, and a maintenance building. Damage was reported to homes and other structures in Sandy Springs, Atlanta, Milton, and Johns Creek, College Park, and Fairburn. Heavy damage was noted in the Sandy Springs area. A business sign suffered damage near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Two injuries were reported from a home on Moorehouse Drive Southwest in the city of Atlanta when a tree fell on the structure causing the roof and wall to collapse. An adult male and a pregnant adult female were injured as a result. Both injuries were non-life threatening. Damage was reported along Holcomb Bridge Road, Warsaw Road, and Park Bridge Lane. In Fairburn, two homes were damaged when trees fell on the structures on White Mill and Rivertown Roads.

Wider weather episode

A deep upper trough was moving from the mid-south toward the southeast U.S. early on the 26th. A strong cold front accompanied the upper system. A squall line of thunderstorms developed after midnight on the 25th across Mississippi and Alabama and reached the Georgia/Alabama border around 5 am EST. The line of thunderstorms intensified and bowed out just as it was moving in Georgia during the early morning hours. Wind gusts in excess 60 mph affected many counties as these thunderstorms rolled through the area during the early morning hours, causing extensive wind damage to trees, power lines, and some structures from the west and northwest side of Atlanta toward the Alabama border. In addition, two tornadoes, one an EF3, developed along the stronger part of the line as it moved through Carroll county before daybreak causing extensive damage along their paths.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.0200, -84.3700)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 80759. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.