Strong Wind — De Kalb, Georgia

2008-03-04 · De Kalb, Georgia

Event narrative

The Atlanta Police Department, as well as the local Atlanta television stations, reported that a strong winds following a cold frontal passage combined with wet soils caused a tree to fall down on a Georgia Power truck. The employee was killed when the tree fell on his truck at the intersection of Memorial Drive and East Lake Drive, just south of Decatur.

Wider weather episode

A strong cold front and a deep, negatively-tilted closed upper low swept through the southeast U.S. on the 4th. A pre-frontal complex of thunderstorms moved across the area during the morning hours with widespread rain and embedded thunder, but without any severe. However, a very unstable air mass developed in the wake of the morning activity as a dry slot worked its way northeastward ahead of the cold front. This allowed a second line of narrow, yet strong convection to develop across eastern Alabama during the early afternoon. This swept across north and the northern parts of central Georgia during the mid and late afternoon hours, causing scattered reports of wind damage and marginal severe hail. Although the potential for tornadoes existed and the east central and northeast part of the state was placed under a moderate risk, no tornadoes developed during this convective event.

In addition, strong gradient winds of 30 to 40 mph with some higher gusts affected the area in the wake of this strong storm system. The strong winds combined with wet soils caused a tree to fall down on a Georgia Power truck. The employee was killed when the tree fell on his truck at the intersection of Memorial Drive and East Lake Drive, just south of Decatur in DeKalb county.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 86141. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.