Name: Lightning Strike in Georgia, July 19, 2001
Start: 2001-07-19T16:30
End: 2001-07-19T16:30
Location: Georgia

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 1
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 Jul 19, 2:25 PM EST, 2 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 19, 2:25 PM EST, 2 hours 5 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
325 PM EDT THU JUL 19 2001

UPPER RIDGE IN MIDDLE PART OF COUNTRY RECEDES A BIT AS UPPER TROF
DEEPENS ALONG EAST COAST. THIS KEEPS CWA IN A NW TO N FLOW PATTERN
WITH THE SURFACE FRONT DROPPING SOUTH INTO STATE TONIGHT. WATER
VAPOR SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS LOCATION OF FRONT THIS AFTERNOON FROM
OHIO INTO NORTH CAROLINA. SURFACE ANALYSIS INDICATES THE FRONT IS
RATHER WEAK AND DIFFUSE WITH COOLER AND DRIER AIR LAGGING BEHIND THE
FRONT IN THE DELMARVA AREA. ONLY WEAK UPPER LEVEL ENERGY SUPPORT IN
OUR AREA TODAY...BUT BECOMES A BIT BETTER ORGANIZED FRIDAY. A
SLIGHTLY BETTER ORGANIZED VORTICITY MAX MOVES OVER THE TOP OF THE
RIDGE AND DIVES SOUTH FROM W KENTUCKY INTO N AL/GA AREA BY LATE
FRIDAY EVENING. ENERGY MAX HANGS AROUND GEORGIA AREA INTO SATURDAY.
TIME CROSS SECTIONS INDICATE THE MAX UPWARD VELOCITIES AND HIGHEST
MEAN RH OCCUR OVER THE CWA DURING THE DAY FRIDAY...AND DOESN'T DRY
OUT COMPLETELY BY SATURDAY.

WILL KEEP CHANCE POPS TONIGHT HIGHER ACROSS THE NORTH...AND WILL
PROBABLY NEED TO CONTINUE CHANCE ALL NIGHT. WITH LACK OF STRONG
ORGANIZED UPPER SUPPORT MAV LIKELY POPS SEEM A BIT HIGH FRIDAY INTO
FRIDAY EVENING. WILL GENERALLY COMPROMISE BETWEEN THE FWC AND FAN
POPS. IN THE EXTENDED PORTION OF THE FORECAST THE FRONT MOVES INTO
NORTH FLORIDA BY SUNDAY AND WASHES OUT....SO WILL BE ABLE TO TAKE
OUT POPS FOR A DAY OR SO. SOME MODERATION OF TEMPS AFTER FROPA...BUT
THEY DO A QUICK REBOUND TO NEAR PRESENT LEVELS AFTER FRONT WASHES
OUT. WILL CONTINUE PRESENT CHANCE POPS IN LATER PART OF THE
EXTENDED...ESPECIALLY IN THE CENTRAL PART OF STATE. WILL USE A BLEND
OF TEMP GUIDANCE.

FCSTID = 22
ATL   73  86  71  82 /  30  50  50  40
AHN   71  86  67  82 /  30  50  40  30
GVL   71  85  66  81 /  30  50  40  30
RMG   71  88  70  85 /  40  50  50  30
CSG   74  90  73  86 /  30  50  50  40
MCND   71  90  72  84 /  30  50  50  40

.ATL...
GA...NONE.

OUR DETAILED COUNTY FORECASTS ARE AVAILABLE AT FOUS52 KFFC
OUR AREA FORECAST FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA CITIES IS
AVAILABLE AT FLUS42 KFFC

The radar

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 103 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:27 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Whitfield

When: July 19, 4:30 PM EST
Where: Whitfield County, Tunnel Hill
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.806, -84.967 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Dalton Daily Citizen reported that a man was injured when lightning struck a nearby tree. The lightning bolt traveled from the tree through a wooden shed, in which the man was working, then down a shovel hanging on the wall and then on to the man's foot. The shovel was splintered. The man's foot turned completely black during the incident and remained numb for four hours. The man was taken to an emergency room and remained there for four hours before recovering and being released.

What these are

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

More

Every storm in Georgia in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Georgia, July 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: 5261542.