Georgia, 2001

High Wind in Georgia, March 6, 2001

March 6, 2001 · NWS GSP · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Low pressure developed off the mid-Atlantic coast, and steadily strengthened as it crept northward up the Atlantic seaboard. As the storm grew stronger, the pressure gradient increase over the region resulted in high winds.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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 happened

The episode as NWS GSP wrote it up.

Low pressure developed off the mid-Atlantic coast, and steadily strengthened as it crept northward up the Atlantic seaboard. As the storm grew stronger, the pressure gradient increase over the region resulted in high winds. Business signs were blown down and power was out for several days in some cases. Some people described this as the worst wind storm since March 1993.

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 Greenville-Spartanburg, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 5, 9:35 PM EST, 2 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 5, 9:35 PM EST, 2 hours 25 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
935 PM EST MON MAR 5 2001

SNOW SHOWERS ACCUMULATING ACROSS MANY LOCALES WITHIN WARNING AREA
& EXPECT THIS TREND TO CONTINUE OVERNIGHT AS POLAR VORTEX ROTATES
SOUTHEAST...AND LLVL NW FLOW/RH & CAA CONTINUE...IF NOT
INCREASE SOME. BASED ON 18Z MESOETA TRENDS OF TIGHTENING
GRADIENT...AN INCREASE IN 850 MB FLOW & STRONG CAA...WILL
RATCHET UPWARD THE NC MTNS TO A WIND ADVISORY OVERNIGHT.
WILL ALSO GO AHEAD & LOWER MINS ACRS NORTHERN NC MTNS WITH
NEWLAND CURRENTLY 20F. THIS WILL ALSO PROBABLY PRODUCE WIND
CHILL INDEX VALUES IN ADVISORY CATEGORY...BUT IN LIEU OF
ISSUING ANOTHER NPW...WITH ADD MENTION IN CURRENT WSW.

FCSTID = 55
GSP   27  43  26  52 /   0  10  10  10
AND   27  42  26  52 /   0  10  10  10
CLT   27  40  26  51 /   0  10  10  10
HKY   26  38  25  48 /   0  20  20  10
AVL   24  31  22  43 /  70  70  40  10

.GSP...
GA...WIND ADVISORY FOR AREA LAKES GAZ010-017.
NC...WINTER STORM WARNING THROUGH TUESDAY NCZ033-048>050
     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY THROUGH TUESDAY NCZ051>053-058-059
     WIND ADVISORY FOR AREA LAKES NCZ062>065
     HIGH WIND WATCH TUESDAY NCZ048>053-058-059-062>065.
     WIND ADVISORY NCZ048>053-058-059-062>065.
SC...WIND ADVISORY FOR AREA LAKES SCZ001>003.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Habersham

When
March 6, 12:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
Where
Habersham forecast zone
Measured
55 kt (63 mph)
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
34.631, -83.531 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Rabun

When
March 6, 12:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
Where
Rabun forecast zone
Measured
55 kt (63 mph)
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
34.882, -83.402 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Georgia in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, March 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: 5237922, 5237923.