Strong Wind in Georgia, March 30, 2003

Name: Strong Wind in Georgia, March 30, 2003
Start: 2003-03-30T09:25
End: 2003-03-30T09:25
Location: Georgia

March 30, 2003 · NWS FFC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 strong wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $10,000
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 Mar 30, 5:35 AM EST, 3 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 30, 5:35 AM EST, 3 hours 50 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
535 AM EST SUN MAR 30 2003

305 PUBLIC FORECAST DISCUSSION...
.OVERVIEW...SHARP TROUGH TO MOVE THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA
TODAY...BRINGING A QUICK SHOT OF COLD AIR TODAY AND MONDAY. THEN
TROUGH QUICKLY MOVES OUT TO SEA...WITH AREA UNDER BROAD RIDGE BY
MIDWEEK. THIS SHOULD KEEP US IN ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES FROM
MIDWEEK ON. MRF SHOWS WEAK FRONT BY SATURDAY...BUT WITH LIMITED
MOISTURE...WILL KEEP DRY FOR NOW AS IN PREVIOUS FORECAST.

.SHORT TERM...RAIN ABOUT ENDED IN THE FAR NORTHWEST...BUT WILL BE
ENDING IN THE MORNING ELSEWHERE AS TROUGH MOVES THROUGH. WINDS UP IN
THE LAKE CAUTION RANGE AS TIGHT GRADIENT BETWEEN THE LOW NEAR HAT
AND HIGH PRESSURE OVER TEXAS. FREEZING TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE NORTH
TONIGHT...SO WILL ISSUE FREEZE WARNING. A LITTLE MORE MARGINAL IN
CENTRAL GEORGIA. HOWEVER GRADIENT RELAXES ENOUGH OVERNIGHT FOR THE
POSSIBILITY OF PATCHY FROST THERE. STILL SOME RESIDUAL MOISTURE AT
850 MB ACROSS FAR NORTHEAST...SO THAT MAY PREVENT A HARD FREEZE.
TEMPERATURES MODERATE QUICKLY BY TUESDAY. POPS BELOW ARE FOR
12Z-00Z. POPS AT RELEASE TIME LIKELY HIGHER BASED ON LATEST RADAR.

.EXTENDED...QUIET WEATHER AND MILD TEMPERATURES AS FLOW BECOMES
NEARLY ZONAL.

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...

KATL 49 33 55 40 / 40 00 00 00
KAHN 51 30 57 37 / 50 00 00 00
KGVL 48 30 54 37 / 40 00 00 00
KRMG 49 30 56 38 / 20 00 00 00
KCSG 55 34 61 38 / 50 00 00 00
KMCN 55 33 59 38 / 60 00 00 00

.ATL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
GA...FREEZE WARNING NORTH GEORGIA TONIGHT.

AVIATION FORECAST DISCUSSION...
WIDESPREAD MVFR CIGS (1000 TO 2000 FT) ACROSS TAF SITES THIS MORNING.
CIGS OCCASIONALLY LOWERING TO LESS THAN 1000 FEET IN MODERATE RAIN.
VSBYS GENERALLY 3-5 MILES OR BETTER IN RAIN/FOG. LOOK FOR RAIN TO
DIMINISH AND BE OUT OF COUNTY WARNING AREA BY LATE MORNING. OVC CIGS
LIFTING AND BECOMING BKN 3500-4500 FEET AND VSBYS UNRESTRICTED DURING
AFTERNOON. NORTHWEST WINDS 12 TO 17 KTS WITH GUST TO 25 KTS WILL
CONTINUE THROUGH MUCH OF THE DAY.

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 30, 6:00 AM EST, 3 hours 25 minutes before

GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086-
089>098-102>113-301630-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
600 AM EST SUN MAR 30 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY.

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER EXPECTED.

.SYNOPSIS...
A COLD FRONT NEAR AN AUGUSTA TO ALBANY LINE WILL MOVE EAST OFF THE
GEORGIA COAST BY AFTERNOON. AREA OF LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN
ASSOCIATED WITH IT...WILL DIMINISH ACROSS NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA BY
LATE MORNING.

.FOR SPOTTERS...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT.

.DAY TWO THROUGH DAY SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. NO HAZARDOUS
WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

FOR THE GRAPHICAL HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK AND OTHER WEATHER
INFORMATION...PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV...AND CLICK ON
GEORGIA.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Strong Wind, Spalding

When: March 30, 9:25 AM EST
Where: Spalding forecast zone
Measured: 35 kt (40 mph) estimated gust
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 33.261, -84.284 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong northwest winds of 35 to 40 mph associated with a late season winter cold front blew a large red oak tree onto a 71-year old man's car while traveling westbound on College Street. It took nearly an hour to pull the man's body from the wreckage. The man was pronounced dead at the scene and was determined to have died from a broken neck. Wind gusts of 39 mph were measured at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport, some 40 miles to the northwest of the incident location.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Strong Wind, Spalding	2003-03-30	71	Male	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct

What these are

Strong Wind: Non-thunderstorm winds below high wind criteria that nonetheless caused damage or casualties.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Georgia in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Georgia, March 2003

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: 5345787.