An overall dry first part of February, combined with gusty winds, led to several wildfires within United States Forest Service land. All of the wildfires were human caused.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS FFC wrote it up.
An overall dry first part of February, combined with gusty winds, led to several wildfires within United States Forest Service land. All of the wildfires were human caused. Between February 12th and February 14th, three wildfires were observed, one in Union, another in Chattooga, and a third in Putnam counties. These three fires combined consumed two acres and resulted in $2,400 in damages.
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 Feb 12, 5:18 AM EST, 8 hours 42 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED FOR AVIATION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 518 AM EST THU FEB 12 2009 .SHORT TERM /TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... LARGE SCALE FAST ZONAL FLOW PATTERN EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS AS TELECONNECTIONS FROM DEEP UPPER LOW ANCHORED IN THE PACIFIC NW SUPPORT CONTINUATION OF BROAD RIDGE ACROSS THE GULF. THUS...A MEAN FAST W-SW FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE. A SERIES OF EMBEDDED STRONG SHORT WAVES WILL CONTINUE TO EMANATE FROM THE WESTERN U.S. LOW AND MOVE RAPIDLY ACROSS THE U.S. WITH NO SOURCE OF ARCTIC AIR IN PLACE ACROSS THE U.S. IN THIS PATTERN...EACH SYSTEM WILL HAVE AMPLE ABILITY TO TAP INTO GULF MOISTURE. IN ADDITION...THESE SYSTEMS ARE ACCOMPANIED WITH STRONG SHEAR/HELICITY. INSTABILITY...WHILE NOT OVERLY IMPRESSIVE...GIVEN VERY STRONG DYNAMICS...WILL BE MORE THAN SUFFICIENT FOR CONVECTION IN EACH CASE. THE FIRST SUCH SYSTEM WAS EXITING THE AREA THIS MORNING. THE AIR MASS IN THE WAKE OF THIS SYSTEM IS OF CONTINENTAL PACIFIC (CP) ORIGIN AND WITH DOWNSLOPE WEST WINDS...WILL BE DRY AND CONTINUED SEASONABLY WARM. WINDS WILL DIMINISH AS THE REMNANTS OF THIS STRONG SYSTEM PULL RAPIDLY WELL NE AWAY FROM THE REGION AND WEAK HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER THE AREA BY AFTERNOON AND CONTINUES INTO EARLY FRI. NO SENSIBLE WEATHER CONCERNS THROUGH EARLY FRI. LEANED SLIGHTLY TOWARD THE MET MOS FOR MAX/MIN TEMPS IN THE SHORT TERM...AS MET MOS HAS SHOWN LESS BIAS IN THIS PATTERN THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS. THE NEXT...IN THIS SERIES OF STRONG SHORT WAVES EMBEDDED IN THE MEAN ZONAL FLOW...EMANATES FROM THE WESTERN U.S. LOW FRI AND MOVES RAPIDLY INTO THE MIDWEST BY FRI NIGHT. IN RESPONSE...A WARM FRONT WILL LIFT FROM THE GULF COASTAL REGION INTO S GA FRI NIGHT AND PERHAPS AS FAR NORTH AS CSG-MCN BY EARLY SAT...BEFORE ANOTHER PACIFIC-DERIVED COLD FRONT SWEEPS THROUGH FROM THE WEST. A SFC LOW WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE WARM FRONT AND TRACK ALONG THE FRONT. THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER WITH THIS SYSTEM HAS CONCERNED ME FOR SEVERAL DAYS. ALTHOUGH THE PARENT SHORT WAVE IS WELL REMOVED FROM THE AREA...LARGE SCALE SYNOPTIC FORCING AND ASCENT IS STRONG. HELICITY VALUES ARE TREMENDOUS...IN EXCESS OF 500 M2/S2. THIS ALONE WILL SUPPORT WIDESPREAD CONVECTION. HOWEVER...THE SFC ENVIRONMENT IS MARGINAL AT BEST WITH DEWPOINTS ONLY INDICATED TO RECOVER TO THE 40S NORTH AND 50S SOUTH. CONVECTION WILL LIKELY BE ELEVATED IN NATURE...AND WHILE DEFINITELY SUPPORTIVE OF MORE THUNDER/LIGHTNING THAN WE HAVE SEEN WITH ANY RECENT SYSTEMS...CONVECTION WILL NOT BE ROOTED IN THE BOUNDARY LAYER...THUS LIMITING THE SEVERE THREAT. THE LARGE SCALE ASCENT WILL ALSO SUPPORT WIDESPREAD PCPN...SUPPORTING EVAPORATIVE COOLING AND FURTHER STABILIZATION OF THE BOUNDARY LAYER. WILL NEED TO WATCH CENTRAL GA VERY CAREFULLY FRI NIGHT/EARLY SAT AS THE WARM FRONT APPEARS TO CREEP AS FAR NORTH AS CSG-MCN. THIS WOULD ALLOW OUR SOUTHERN COUNTIES TO COME UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A MORE UNSTABLE AIR MASS MORE LIKELY TO SUPPORT SEVERE TSRA. AT A MINIMUM...MARGINAL SEVERE HAIL CANNOT BE RULED OUT IN CENTRAL GA FRI NIGHT/EARLY SAT...BUT EXPECT THE TRACK OF THE SFC LOW TO LIMIT THE THREAT OF WIDESPREAD SEVERE TO S GA/N FL...SO WILL NOT MENTION SEVERE IN THE ZONES YET. ANY SHIFT OF THE WARM FRONT FURTHER NORTH...AND THE ATTENDANT WARM...UNSTABLE AIR MASS WILL GREATLY INCREASE THE SEVERE THREAT. THIS SYSTEM EXITS THE REGION EARLY SAT...WITH CLEARING SPREADING ACROSS THE AREA FROM NW TO SE BY AFTERNOON. PROJECTED QPF OF WIDESPREAD 1-2 INCHES ACROSS CENTRAL GA NOTED WITH THE FRI NIGHT/SAT SYSTEM. GIVEN THE LACK OF RAIN RECENTLY...MOST AREAS IN CENTRAL GA ARE 3-4 INCHES BELOW NORMAL SO FAR THIS YEAR. THUS...THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ABLE TO HANDLE THE PROJECTED RAINFALL. WILL NOT ISSUE ANY FLOOD WATCHES AT THIS TIME. CONSIDERABLY LESS RAINFALL IS EXPECTED FURTHER NORTH IN THE COOLER AIR. TEMPS WILL REMAIN WELL ABOVE SEASONAL NORMS THROUGH THE SHORT TERM WITH NO SOURCE OF SIGNIFICANT COLD AIR EXPECTED. .LONG TERM /SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... FAST ZONAL FLOW CONTINUES THROUGH THE EXTENDED PERIODS AS NOTED ABOVE. THE GFS HAS COME INTO AGREEMENT WITH WHAT THE ECMWF INDICATED FOR SEVERAL RUNS SHOWING YET ANOTHER FAST SHORT WAVE TRAVERSING THE AREA SUN...WHILE PREVIOUSLY THIS WAS INDICATED DRY. A SPLIT PATTERN EVOLVES WITH A SEWD MOVING SHORT WAVE FROM THE OH VALLEY PHASING WITH AN WEAK EWD MOWING SHORT WAVE ALONG THE GULF COASTAL REGION. LOW POPS ARE WARRANTED...FOCUSING MAINLY ON THE NE GA MOUNTAINS AND SE/SC SECTIONS AS A RESULT. DRY AND SLIGHTLY COOLER...MORE SEASONAL CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED MON-TUE AS A MODIFIED CANADIAN HIGH DRIFTS SE ACROSS THE AREA AND THE FLOW BRIEFLY BECOMES NW ACROSS THE EASTERN U.S. HOWEVER...PROGRESSIVE FLOW CONTINUES AND THE NEXT STRONG SHORT WAVE IS SLATED TO MOVE RAPIDLY ACROSS THE AREA LATE TUE-WED. AGAIN...DYNAMICS AND INSTABILITY SUPPORT TSRA...POTENTIALLY SEVERE ONCE AGAIN. SEASONABLY COOL TEMPS...COOLER THAN WE HAVE SEEN SINCE 05 FEB...ARE EXPECTED MON-TUE WITH LOWS IN THE 30S AND HIGHS IN THE 50S. SOME AREAS WILL SEE THEIR FIRST FREEZE...ALBEIT LIGHT...IN OVER A WEEK. ATL WILL LIKELY STAY ABOVE FREEZING...HOWEVER. HIGHS WILL ONLY REACH THE 50S FOR A CHANGE. && .FIRE WEATHER... CRITICAL LOW RH VALUES ARE MET ACROSS MOST OF THE CWA TODAY. HOWEVER...CURRENT FUEL MOISTURES ARE ABOVE 10 PERCENT...BUT WED AFTERNOON WERE BELOW 10 PERCENT IN PARTS OF CENTRAL GA. BASED ON THIS AND THE FACT THAT LITTLE TO NO RAIN FELL IN CENTRAL AREAS... WILL ISSUE A RFW FOR THAT SECTION OF THE STATE. FUEL MOISTURES AND RAINFALL SHOULD PREVENT RFW CONDITIONS FROM BEING MET NORTH OF GA 16. && .AVIATION... HIGH PRESSURE CURRENTLY OVER MS...WILL GRADUALLY DRIFT OVER THE STATE BY THIS EVENING. AS A RESULT... NO CIG OR VIS RESTRICTIONS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD. THEREFORE...MAINLY A WIND FORECAST WITH WESTERLY WINDS 10KTS OR LESS EXPECTED THROUGH THE AFTERNOON...THEN BECOMING 5KTS OR LESS BY THIS EVENING. /39 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... ATHENS 68 39 66 47 60 / 0 0 5 80 50 ATLANTA 67 42 66 50 63 / 0 0 20 90 50 BLAIRSVILLE 58 36 58 46 55 / 0 0 5 70 40 CARTERSVILLE 65 34 66 47 60 / 0 0 10 90 40 COLUMBUS 72 42 66 55 67 / 0 0 40 90 60 GAINESVILLE 65 39 63 47 59 / 0 0 5 80 50 MACON 73 38 69 53 67 / 0 0 20 90 60 ROME 66 32 66 48 62 / 0 0 5 90 30 PEACHTREE CITY 67 31 66 51 64 / 0 0 20 90 50 VIDALIA 75 42 71 56 69 / 0 0 10 80 60 && .FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... RED FLAG WARNING FROM 1 PM TO 6 PM EST THIS AFTERNOON FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: BALDWIN...BIBB...BLECKLEY...CRAWFORD...CRISP... DODGE...DOOLY...EMANUEL...GLASCOCK...HOUSTON...JEFFERSON... JOHNSON...JONES...LAMAR...LAURENS...MACON...MONROE... MONTGOMERY...PEACH...PULASKI...SCHLEY...SUMTER...TAYLOR... TELFAIR...TOOMBS...TREUTLEN...TWIGGS...UPSON...WASHINGTON... WHEELER...WILCOX...WILKINSON. && 19
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 443 AM EST THU FEB 12 2009 GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086- 089>098-102>113-131200- BALDWIN-BANKS-BARROW-BARTOW-BIBB-BLECKLEY-BUTTS-CARROLL-CATOOSA- CHATTAHOOCHEE-CHATTOOGA-CHEROKEE-CLARKE-CLAYTON-COBB-COWETA- CRAWFORD-CRISP-DADE-DAWSON-DEKALB-DODGE-DOOLY-DOUGLAS-EMANUEL- FANNIN-FAYETTE-FLOYD-FORSYTH-GILMER-GLASCOCK-GORDON-GREENE- GWINNETT-HALL-HANCOCK-HARALSON-HARRIS-HEARD-HENRY-HOUSTON-JACKSON- JASPER-JEFFERSON-JOHNSON-JONES-LAMAR-LAURENS-LUMPKIN-MACON- MADISON-MARION-MERIWETHER-MONROE-MONTGOMERY-MORGAN-MURRAY- MUSCOGEE-NEWTON-NORTH FULTON-OCONEE-OGLETHORPE-PAULDING-PEACH- PICKENS-PIKE-POLK-PULASKI-PUTNAM-ROCKDALE-SCHLEY-SOUTH FULTON- SPALDING-STEWART-SUMTER-TALBOT-TALIAFERRO-TAYLOR-TELFAIR-TOOMBS- TOWNS-TREUTLEN-TROUP-TWIGGS-UNION-UPSON-WALKER-WALTON-WARREN- WASHINGTON-WEBSTER-WHEELER-WHITE-WHITFIELD-WILCOX-WILKES- WILKINSON- 443 AM EST THU FEB 12 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT DANGEROUS FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS PORTIONS OF CENTRAL GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON. .SYNOPSIS... HIGH PRESSURE AND A VERY DRY AIRMASS WILL SETTLE OVER THE REGION TODAY. .PRIMARY HAZARDS... THE PRIMARY HAZARD WILL BE DANGEROUS FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS DUE TO LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND LOW FUEL MOISTURE LEVELS. THESE CONDITIONS WILL BE MOST PRONOUNCED GENERALLY EAST AND SOUTH OF LINE FROM AMERICUS TO THOMASTON TO LOUISVILLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY A SERIES OF FAST MOVING STORM SYSTEMS WILL TRACK FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE U.S. ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. THUNDERSTORMS...SOME STRONG...ARE EXPECTED TO ACCOMPANY THIS SYSTEM ACROSS MAINLY CENTRAL GEORGIA LATE FRIDAY AND EARLY SATURDAY. THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE NEXT TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
1022 AM EST THU FEB 12 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0325 PM TSTM WND DMG TRENTON 34.87N 85.51W
02/11/2009 DADE GA COUNTY OFFICIAL
TWO TREES AND ONE POWER LINE BLOWN DOWN.
&&
KFRANTZThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The U.S. Forest Service reported that a wildfire, initiated by a car along Georgia Highway 180, consumed 0.10 acres of forest land. Damages from the fire were estimated at $700.00.
The U.S. Forest Service reported a human caused wildfire near Eatonton (labeled the Eatonton Fuelbreak). The fire consumed 0.50 acres and resulted in $500.00 in damages.
The U.S. Forest Service reported a wildfire in the Dry Creek area. The fire was human caused. It consumed 1.0 acre and resulted in $1,200 in damages.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Georgia in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, February 2009
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: 155029, 155031, 155030.