Hail in Fulton County, Georgia

The Fulton County Emergency Management Director observed baseball-sized hail across downtown Atlanta. Because of the extensive damage caused by the tornado the previous evening, it was hard to distinguish what damage was caused by the hail, but chards of glass were reported to have been spread across much of the downtown area. In addition, the public reported golf ball-sized hail southwest of Six Flags, just south of Interstate-20 in western Fulton county, including the area around Fulton Industrial Boulevard, and an off duty National Weather Service employee observed penny-sized hail just southeast of downtown Atlanta in the Grant Park area. An amateur radio operator relayed a report of penny to quarter-sized hail in Centennial Olympic Park.

The pattern that began to evolve on March 14th continued and intensified on March 15th. A stationary front remained draped across north Georgia from near Atlanta to Athens. South of this front, the air mass was becoming increasingly warm, moist and unstable. Meanwhile, aloft, a low amplitude, yet vigorous short wave embedded within a fast zonal flow, was tracking rapidly eastward from the mid south into the southeast. Strong shear and high helicity combined with the unstable air mass and the frontal boundary to allow repeated severe thunderstorms to develop and track eastward along the boundary across north Georgia. The activity began early in the day as a complex of thunderstorms moved into the area from Alabama and continued until nearly midnight. As the day progressed, especially during the afternoon, the development of the activity gradually progressed further south and by midnight had reached the south and southeast parts of the state. Numerous severe thunderstorms and tornadic supercells were observed throughout the day.

Historical records indicate that this was one of the most significant severe weather days for the Peachtree City Weather Forecast Office with more events and warnings than had been observed since May 2003.