Tornadoes and Hail in Georgia, July 23, 2000

The Dawson county Emergency Management Director, amateur radio operators, the Dawson News and Advertiser, and the public all reported extensive amounts of trees and power lines down across the county. The majority of the damage took place along Georgia Highway 53 from the western end of the county, through Dawsonville, to the eastern end of the county, including Georgia Highway 9. Hundreds of trees, along with power lines, were reported down along Georgia Highway 53. In addition, The First Baptist Church's Youth Center in Dawsonville was damaged and a car on Georgia Highway 9 was leveled by a large oak tree. Several other homes sustained damage in the county. A natural gas line was ruptured by a very large uprooted oak tree on West Highway 53. The damage was caused by a supercell thunderstorm that spawned an F0 to weak F1 tornado after moving further east into Hall and Banks counties.

The Dawson News and Advertiser, as well as amateur radio reports and the public, indicated that hail, ranging from the size of dimes to golfballs, fell along Georgia Highway 53 from the western end of the county to the eastern end of the county.

The public reported dime to penny size hail.

The public reported hail ranging from the size of quarters to golfballs. A report from 3 miles north of Dahlonega indicated hail the size of golfballs lasted for 10 to 12 minutes.

The Dahlonega News Nugget reported numerous trees down along Lumpkin County Parkway behind the 400 Industrial Park. In addition, one home and an air stream trailer were damaged by falling trees. The public reported a possible tornado in Dahlonega which uprooted trees and blew off the roofs of some homes. While this was the same storm that shortly thereafter produced an F0 to F1 tornado in Hall county, the National Weather Service Survey Team did not see evidence of a tornado touchdown in Lumpkin county. Thus, all damage was believed to have been caused by strong straight-line thunderstorm winds.

An NWS Storm Survey team from the Peachtree City WFO confirmed that an F0 to weak F1 briefly tornado touched down in the Leisure Lakes Village mobile home park area of Murrayville in the far north part of the county. At least half a dozen homes were severely damaged by falling trees. There was also substantial damage reported to other trees and power lines in the same general area.

The public, along with several local newspapers, reported numerous trees and power lines down across much of the northern half of Hall county from Murrayville, to Gainesville, to Lula. Several boats docked at the north end of Lake Lanier were also reported to have been turned over. Damage was concentrated in the area north of Little River Bridge on U.S. 129 and south of Clermont. The North Hall neighborhood of Muscadine Valley and River North were particularly hard hit where dozens of pine trees were snapped in half and power lines were downed. This damage was in addition to two separate F0-F1 tornadoes that touched down in Murrayville and Lula during the same time frame.

The public and the Gainesville Times Newspaper both provided numerous reports of hail ranging in size from dimes to golfballs across the northern part of the county from Murrayville, to Gainesville, to Clermont, to Lula. Golfball size hail was particularly widespread across the northern part of Gainesville where two reports indicated that hail was piled up 2 1/2 feet deep on roads and in yards. One report of such hail accumulations was on Jim Hood Road north of Gainesville and another on U.S. Highway 129, also north of Gainesville.

Numerous reports of hail ranging in size from dimes to quarters were received from the public from Tucker, to Stone Mountain, to Lithonia.

Numerous reports of estimated winds of 50 to 60 mph or greater, along with many downed trees were reported by the public from Tucker, to Stone Mountain, to Lithonia. The majority of the downed trees occurred in the Stone Mountain area, where the Atlanta Journal and Constitution also reported that a shed was picked up and tossed about by the strong winds. Some of the trees came down on homes, causing mostly minor damage.

The public reported quarter size hail from the northwest part of Lithonia to Stone Mountain.

The public reported large limbs and trees down, some on homes, particularly in the Stone Mountain area. Winds were estimated by the public at 50 to 60 mph or greater.

The public reported hail within a wide swath across southern Gwinnett county that stretched from the DeKalb county border west of Centerville to east of Centerville and north to Snellville. One report received from Snellville indicated that the hail lasted for 15 to 20 minutes.

An NWS Survey team concluded that an F0 to weak F1 tornado touched down briefly about 3 miles south of Lula in extreme northeast Hall county. The tornado was only on the ground very briefly and lifted before crossing into Banks county. It had a width of 50 to 100 yards. Nonetheless, about one dozen homes were damaged with numerous trees and power lines down in the area as well. The tornado was said to have been visible from the Boy Scout Ranch on Highway 60. Debris was observed swirling in the air.

The public reported trees down on Interstate 85 and Georgia Highway 63 near Snellville.

The public reported quarter size hail in the Lakeview Estates area.

The public reported dime size hail.

An NWS Survey Team concluded that an F0 tornado briefly touched down 5 miles west-southwest of Homer and traveled for 2 miles with an approximate path width of 100 yards to a point approximately 3 miles southwest of Homer. One person was injured, apparently by debris, but little additional information was known. The Banks county newspaper reported that the tornado completely destroyed a chicken breeder/pullet building on Simms Road, which had 11,000 chickens inside. The number of chickens that survived was unknown, but the loss of the chicken house and chickens was estimated at $66,000. At the neighboring residence, a satellite dish was destroyed when a large tree fell on it. Another house on Wellborn Road sustained damage when a large uprooted tree fell on the back portion of the house causing damage. Roads and yards in the area were littered with fallen trees and debris. Several roads were blocked as a consequence.

The Rockdale Citizen reported widespread tree damage across the northern part of the county. Trees were reported down on power lines, homes, and automobiles. Most of the damage occurred in the Bethel, Sheffield, Chandler, Fork, Mt Zion, Almond, and Day road areas near Conyers. A vehicle was severely damaged on Bethel Road, and falling trees damaged a boardwalk at Black Shoals Park. In addition, several power poles were broken, including some major poles at a sub-station.

The public reported trees down. Winds were estimated at 60 mph.

The public reported golfball size hail.

The public reported trees down.

The Carroll county 911 center reported trees and power lines down along Clem-Lowell road.

The public reported dime size hail from Winston to Fairplay.

The Athens Daily News reported two trees down.

The Barrow County News reported that lightning started a fire in the attic of a home located on Briarwood Road near Carl-Cedar Hill Road in the Briarwood Subdivision. Fire damage was mainly confined to the attic and a front room of the house, while smoke and water damage was noted elsewhere. No one was injured as the house was vacant at the time of the incident.

The Heard county 911 center reported power lines down.

The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, the Fayette County Fire and Emergency Services, and the public reported numerous trees and power lines down across the northwest part of Fayette county. An Amoco gas station was damaged in far northwest Fayette county on Georgia Highway 92 near the Fulton county line when its canopy was torn off. The debris from the canopy caused minor damage to a nearby home.

The Fayette county Emergency Management Director reported that lightning started a fire to a gas station/grocery store in far northwest Fayette county on Georgia Highway 92 near the Fulton county line.

The Comer News and the Madison county 911 center reported widespread damage across Madison county. Extensive damage was reported to 3 chicken houses, power lines, and hundreds of trees, some more than 100 years old. The hardest hit areas of the county were the western sections from Cromers, to Shiloh, to Pocataligo, to Ila. The Shiloh area was especially hard hit where countless trees were uprooted and snapped in two. In addition, a steeple was toppled at the Jones Chapel in Shiloh by the strong thunderstorm winds.

The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, along with public, numerous ham radio reports, and county 911 reports indicated that widespread and substantial damage was done by a thunderstorm with winds estimated at 60 to 65 mph. Hundreds of trees littered the roads and knocked down power lines across southern Fulton county, from just south of the Atlanta International Airport to the Fayette county line. Highway 279 was blocked for several hours with debris. Dozens of homes sustained roof and some structural damage as large trees, mostly pines, fell on them and two windows were damaged at one home in College Park. Six to eight vehicles were damaged along Old National Highway when large trees fell on them. Furthermore, a large 10 ft by 2 ft metal sign was blown down in Fairburn at the intersection of Interstate 85 and Georgia Highway 74.

The Twiggs county Emergency Management Director reported that about 30 pine trees were either twisted or broken off and some power lines were down between Bullard and Danville off Interstate 16 near U.S. Highway 129. He estimated that the damage covered a 0.5 to 1.5 mile wide area and stretched along a three mile wide path. He further reported that while most of the trees were lying in a northwesterly direction, some of the trees were lying in a southerly direction.

The public reported that strong thunderstorm winds picked up a storage shed 10 miles west of Newnan and tossed it about. The storm also knocked down a power line down in Newnan.

The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, along with the Clayton county 911 center, ham radio operators, and the public reported strong thunderstorm winds caused widespread destruction of trees across northern Clayton county. The damage path continued from southern Fulton county near College Park through Riverdale to Forest Park and Morrow in Clayton county. The area from College Park to Riverdale along Georgia Highway 314 bore the brunt of the storm. Hundreds of trees were down on homes and power lines. Parts of Bethsaida Road and Cheryl Lee Road had to be closed because they were blocked by trees.

The public reported 1.00 to 1.50 inch diameter hail.

The public reported golfball size hail.

The Warren county 911 center reported trees down throughout the county.

The public reported hail ranging in size from pea to golfball.

The public reported 5 trees down in the road.

The Warren county 911 center reported more trees down countywide.

The public reported dime size hail.

Ham radio operators relayed numerous reports of strong winds, estimated at 60 to 65 mph, from Rossville in the far north part of the county to La Fayette in the southern part of the county. However, the only damage reported were several 15 to 20 ft limbs down in the Chickamauga area.

A ham radio operator relayed a report of dime size hail.

The North Georgia Electric Management Cooperative reported trees and power lines down throughout the central portion of the county.