Hail and Lightning Strikes in Georgia, April 3, 2001

Name: Hail and Lightning Strikes in Georgia, April 3, 2001
Start: 2001-04-03T05:55
End: 2001-04-03T17:45
Location: Georgia

April 3, 2001 · NWS FFC · 13 events in 9 counties and zones

8 lightning, 5 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 8 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $191,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 13

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Atlanta, GA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 3, 12:45 AM EST, 5 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 3, 12:45 AM EST, 5 hours 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
145 AM EDT TUE APR 3 2001

FORECAST COMPLICATED INTO WEEKEND WITH SOME MODEL DIFFERENCES FROM
PREVIOUS RUNS AND DIVGERING SOLUTIONS AS TIME PROGRESSES.

SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS OVER OHIO VALLEY CONTINUE MOVING EAST AT THIS
TIME WITH LITTLE DEVELOPMENT SOUTH. NOTE PCPN AXIS ABOUT 100NM N
FORECAST LAST FEW RUNS. HOWEVER, IF MODELS CORRECT SHOULD SEE FAIRLY
RAPID DEVELOPMENT SOUTH AS WAA AND RESULTING ISENTROPIC LIFT BEGIN
ON 290+ SURFACES. PRECIP WILL WORK ITS WAY SOUTH TODAY AND DIMINISH
FROM NORTH SOME AS VORT MOVES DOWN EAST SIDE WEAK RIDGE TO OUR W AND
A FRONT DEVELOPS OVER THE TENN VALLEY AND WORKS VERY SLOWLY
SOUTH...THIS ALSO IN RESPONSE TO HIGH MOVING ACROSS GREAT LAKES AND
SOUTH.  WE DESTABALIZE SOME SO WILL KEEP TRW IN TODAY.

TONIGHT. WILL SEE DYNAMICS AND FRONT SINK SOUTH. SO WILL LOWER POPS
TO MINS NORTH AND HIGHEST CSG-AGS. NEAR GUIDANCE ON LOWS AND POPS.

WEDNESDAY. NEXT WAVE MOVES THRU RIDGE, WHICH BUILDS AND FORECAST
WAMUP BEGINS. ANOTHER WAA ISENTROPIC RAIN EVENT WITH ONLY ISOLATED
TRW. WITH MAIN AXIS ATL-MCN. COUNTERING WAA ALOFT IS DEVELOPING
WEDGE IN RESPONSE TO SFC RDG BUILDG DOWN EAST COAST. WET BULBS AND
TDS DROP AS WEDGE GETS SERIOUS. GO ABOVE GUIDANCE ON POPS WEST.

WED NITE INTO THU. WE GET BACK DOORED AS WEDGE BUILDS IN WED NITE,
BUT THU SW MOVES FROM W GULF ACROSS GA, AS WEDGE WEAKENS. THUS POS
GO UP AGAIN. LOOKS AS IF PRECIP MOSTLY RAIN. WITH WEDGE SO STRONG
MODLES MAY BE RUSHING ITS DEMISE. THUS WILL RAISE POPS AND GO BELOW
GIUDANCE ON HIS.

EXTENDED. FRI LOOKS OK WITH NEXT SYSTEM EFFECTG N GA SAT NITE INTO
SUN. MON LOOKS PC. WARM UP SAT-MON. BUT MEX LOOKS TOO WARM...WILL
LOWER HIS.

ATL 66/57/69/55 +354  AHN 67/54/60/53 +432
RMG 64/53/67/50 +432  GVL 65/55/58/54 +432
CSG 74/60/73/58 9765  MCN 72/56/64/54 9642

.ATL...
GA...NONE.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 3, 5:00 AM EST, 55 minutes before

GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086-
089>098-102>113-031530-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
600 AM EDT TUE APR 3 2001

...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL
GEORGIA TODAY...

.SYNOPSIS...SHOWERS AND WEAK THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEGUN TO POP UP
ACROSS NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA THIS MORNING. THESE THUNDERSTORMS
ARE AHEAD OF THE MAIN SYSTEM WHICH IS STILL OVER ALABAMA AT THE
MOMENT. THIS SYSTEM IS FORECAST TO MOVE EAST TODAY AND BRING SOME
SHOWERS AND GENERAL THUNDERSTORMS.

.DISCUSSION...
SHOWERS AND GENERAL THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL
GEORGIA THROUGH TONIGHT. HIGHER DEW POINTS AND AFTERNOON SURFACE
HEATING ACROSS NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA SHOULD HELP PRODUCE THE
INSTABILITY NEEDED FOR ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. CAPES ARE NOT
FORECAST TO BE THAT SIGNIFICANT THROUGH TONIGHT BUT THERE WILL BE A
GOOD AMOUNT OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE MOVING IN FOR THE DYNAMICS OF THE
DAY TO WORK WITH.

.PRIMARY HAZARDS...
EXPECT PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN...LIGHTNING...AND SMALL HAIL.

.FOR SPOTTERS...
SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IN NORTH AND
CENTRAL GEORGIA SHOULD MONITOR WEATHER RADIOS AND BE READY FOR
POSSIBLE ACTIVATION THIS AFTERNOON.

&&
FOR THE GRAPHICAL HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK AND OTHER WEATHER
INFORMATION...PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITME AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/FFC.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 lightning, 5 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Cherokee

When: April 3, 5:55 AM EST
Where: Cherokee County, 1 mi S of Holly Spgs
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 34.244, -84.476 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The public reported dime size hail.

Hail, Forsyth

When: April 3, 6:28 AM EST
Where: Forsyth County, Cumming
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 34.226, -84.125 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Forsyth county 911 center reported dime size hail in Cumming.

Hail, Cherokee

When: April 3, 6:30 AM EST
Where: Cherokee County, 4 mi NW of Waleska
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 34.244, -84.476 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The public reported dime size hail.

Hail, Polk

When: April 3, 7:15 AM EST
Where: Polk County, 6 mi SW of Cedartown
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 34.002, -85.188 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Polk county 911 center reported quarter size hail 6 miles southwest of Cedartown and pea to quarter size hail in Cedartown.

Lightning, Floyd

When: April 3, 7:55 AM EST to 8:55 AM EST
Where: Floyd County, Rome
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.263, -85.214 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Rome News Tribune reported that lightning struck a home on Floyd Springs Road. The lightning entered the house through a front board, ripping a one foot long section of the board off the home, then traveled through a bathroom light fixture, putting a one inch hole in the wall and blowing out the bulbs, then skipped around through the upstairs electrical wiring, before terminating in a television in the master bedroom. The carpet behind the television was burned. No major structural fire was reported and no one was injured.

Lightning, Fulton

When: April 3, 8:00 AM EST
Where: Fulton County, 3 mi W of Fairburn
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 34.150, -84.500

The public reported that lightning struck a power meter on the outside of a residence and completely burned the meter as well as some of the immediate wiring. The house was without power until the meter was repaired.

Hail, Hall

When: April 3, 8:13 AM EST
Where: Hall County, Gainesville
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 34.317, -83.820 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Hall county 911 center reported dime size hail.

Lightning, Hall

When: April 3, 8:35 AM EST
Where: Hall County, 6 mi E of Gainesville
Property damage: $150,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.350, -84.600

The Times newspaper in Gainesville reported that lightning struck a house on Cedar Creek Road east of Gainesville in eastern Hall county. The lightning ignited a fire in the kitchen which resulted in moderate to heavy damage to the interior of the home and heavy damage to the attic. A utility pole was also struck and set on fire by lightning on the same street. Numerous outages to telephone, cable, and power were reported in the area because of the intense cloud-to-ground lightning.

Lightning, Coweta

When: April 3, 11:30 AM EST
Where: Coweta County, Newnan
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 33.354, -84.763 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Times-Herald Newspaper in Newnan reported that lightning struck several homes in the county. While no major damage was reported, minor damage resulted to four homes, three on Springfield Drive and another on Gordon Road.

Lightning, Hall

When: April 3, 11:30 AM EST
Where: Hall County, Candler
Property damage: $500
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.200, -84.150

The Time newspaper in Gainesville reported that lightning struck a home on Candler Road near Candler. Damage was minimal as no fire was reported.

Lightning, Houston

When: April 3, 12:58 PM EST
Where: Houston County, Perry
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 32.459, -83.666 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Warner Robbins Daily Sun Newspaper reported that lightning struck a large tree near a house on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard igniting the nearby garage on fire as well as shattering windows at the residence, a neighboring house, and several homes across the street. No injuries were reported and the fire was quickly extinguished before major damage occurred.

Lightning, Troup

When: April 3, 4:50 PM EST
Where: Troup County, 6 mi SE of La Grange
Property damage: $8,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 33.950, -85.317

The La Grange Daily News reported that lightning struck a home on Lower Big Springs Road near Hilyer. The lightning traveled through the electrical system, causing an estimated $8,000 in damages, $6,000 to the home and $2,000 to the electrical system.

Lightning, Troup

When: April 3, 5:45 PM EST
Where: Troup County, 4 mi W of La Grange
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.300, -83.833

The La Grange Daily News reported that lightning struck the chimney of a home on Roanoke Road between Pyne and La Grange, causing minor damage to the structure.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Georgia in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Georgia, April 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5240912, 5240914, 5240913, 5240915, 5240910, 5240917, 5240916, 5242594, 5240911, 5242595, 5242598, 5242596, 5242597.