A weak stationary front was draped across central Georgia, with a moist easterly upslope flow evident north of the stalled front across north Georgia. S.
Every event with a place to put it. 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.
A weak stationary front was draped across central Georgia, with a moist easterly upslope flow evident north of the stalled front across north Georgia. As was the case much of the summer of 2009, northwest flow aloft remained in place across the southeast U.S. thanks to a mean, nearly stationary trough or upper low anchored across the northeast U.S. Numerous pre-existing convective outflow boundaries provided ample support for scattered showers and thunderstorms to develop across the region during the afternoon and evening. While none of the storms became severe, frequent cloud-to-ground lightning was observed with most of the storms. Two lightning-related fires occurred in the Atlanta metropolitan area during the afternoon.
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 7, 9:08 AM EST, 3 hours 28 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 1008 AM EDT TUE JUL 7 2009 .UPDATE... SOMEWHAT DIFFUSE PRESSURE PATTERN ACROSS GEORGIA THIS MORNING WITH NEARLY STATIONARY FRONT LOCATED FROM THE LOW COUNTRY OF SC ACROSS CENTRAL GA. THIS WILL BE THE PRIMARY FOCUS FOR SHOWERS AND STORMS ACROSS THE LOCAL AREA TODAY. AS OF 10 AM...ANOTHER MORE CONFINED AREA OF CONVECTIVE SHOWERS HAD DEVELOPED OVER NWRN GA...IN AN AREA OF SURFACE CONVERGENCE JUST AHEAD OF THE PRESSURE RISES APPROACHING FROM THE NORTH. THE 06Z NAM SEEMED TO CAPTURE THIS FEATURE PRETTY WELL...POSITIONING THE PRECIP UNDER A WEAK SHORTWAVE CROSSING NWRN GA THIS MORNING AND MOVING OUT OF NERN GA THIS AFTERNOON. NUDGED POPS UPWARD IN THE NORTH TO ACCOUNT FOR SOME CLEARING WILL OCCUR FROM THE WEST/NORTHWEST THIS AFTERNOON. RRH && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 445 AM EDT TUE JUL 7 2009/ SHORT TERM /TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... WEAK NEARLY STATIONARY BOUNDARY WILL CONTINUE OVER THE STATE... EVER SO SLOWLY SAGGING SOUTH AS REPEATED SHORTWAVES ROTATE AROUND THE BASE OF THE LARGE UPPER LOW SPINNING OVER SOUTHEAST CANADA. THIS WILL PROVIDE A FOCUS FOR CONTINUED SHOWER/THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT BUT PROFILES ARE CERTAINLY NOT CONDUCIVE TO MUCH MORE THAN THE TYPICAL AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS. OF COURSE IT IS POSSIBLE THAT AN ISOLATED WET MICROBURST MAY FORM AS INSTABILITY INCREASES THIS AFTERNOON WITH THE PLENTIFUL AVAILABLE MOISTURE AROUND. THE LIMITING FACTOR...MUCH LIKE TODAY...WILL BE THE POSSIBILITY OF SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPERATURES DUE TO THE HIT AND MISS THUNDER AND CLOUD COVER (WIDESPREAD THIS MORNING). TEMPS YESTERDAY COOLER THAN PROGGED SO WITH LITTLE CHANGE TO THE OVERALL FORECAST SITUATION HAVE TRIED TO TAKE A MAV/MET BLEND...WITH ADJUSTMENTS FOR PERSISTENCE AND LOCAL BIASES. NOT SURE HOW CONFIDENT I AM IN ALL THIS. UPPER LOW BEGINS TO SLIDE TOWARD THE OCEAN WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY...AND HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS DOWN THE GREAT LAKES INTO THE OHIO VALLEY. THIS PUSHES THE BOUNDARY FURTHER SOUTH AND SO THERE MAY BE A BRIEF LULL IN CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY BUT STILL CANNOT RULE OUT TYPICAL AFTERNOON THUNDER ESPECIALLY IN CENTRAL GEORGIA CLOSER TO THE FRONT. GENERAL TROUGHINESS REMAINS OVER THE REGION FOR THE SHORT-TERM...SO TEMPS REMAIN AT OR JUST SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL. LONG TERM /THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY/... UPPER RIDGE OVER THE SOUTHERN PLAINS BEGINS TO SPREAD EAST LATE IN THE WORK WEEK...LEAVING US WITH EVEN WEAKER FLOW ALOFT THAN IS ALREADY IN PLACE. ALL EXTENDED MODELS WANT TO DEVELOP A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IN CENTRAL CANADA AT THIS TIME WITH A WEAK SOUTHERN EXTENSION IN THE LEE OF THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES. THE BEST FLOW REMAINS TO OUR NORTH SO THE DYNAMICS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SOUTHERN LOW SHOULD GET PULLED UP OVER THE RIDGE AND TOWARD THE OHIO VALLEY OVER THE WEEKEND...BUT BY SUNDAY THE AFOREMENTIONED UPPER LOW HAS STRENGTHENED ENOUGH TO PUSH THE RIDGE FURTHER WEST AND PUT MOST OF THE EASTERN THIRD OF THE COUNTRY IN WEAK NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. AS THE TROUGH DIGS DOWN...THE EXTENDED MODELS PROG IT TO BE ACCOMPANIED BY A WEAK FRONT...BUT DIFFERENCES IN STRENGTH AND SLIGHT DIFFERENCES IN TIMING OF THE UPPER LOW LEAD TO SLIGHTLY LOWER CONFIDENCE (GFS HAS AN EAST-WEST ELONGATED SYSTEM IN EAST CENTRAL CANADA AT THE END OF THE PERIOD WHEREAS ECMWF HAS A STRONGLY DIGGING SYSTEM IN SOUTHEAST CANADA). HAVE KEPT MEX POPS TO ONLY SLIGHT CHANCE AT THIS TIME. TDP AVIATION... VFR TO LOW VFR CONDITIONS DOMINATING TAF SITES EARLY THIS MORNING...WITH MAINLY SCT TO BKN MID/HIGH LEVEL CLOUDS AND VSBY 6+. WE ARE STARTING TO SEE A MORE SOLID AREA OF LOW LEVEL CLOUDS (10 TO 15 HUNDRED FT) WORK INTO CENTRAL GEORGIA...AND SUSPECT WILL SEE SOME OF THESE CLOUDS WORK INTO ATL METRO AND AHN TAF SITES BEFORE SUNRISE. PLAN TO FOLLOW PREVIOUS TAF TREND...WITH IFR TO MVFR CIGS MOST TAF SITES UNTIL AROUND MID MORNING...THEN LIFTING INTO THE LOW VFR/VFR RANGE BY LATE MORNING/NOON. WITH BOUNDARY WAVERING NEAR ATL-AHN LINE...FEEL INCLINED TO CARRY THUNDER MOST SITES THIS AFTERNOON. EXPECT BEST COVERAGE OVER CENTRAL GEORGIA...BUT LEANING TOWARD VCTS AFTER 18Z ALL SITES FOR NOW. WITH BOUNDARY MEANDERING ACROSS NORTHCENTRAL GEORGIA...EXPECT NORTHEAST TO EAST WINDS TO DOMINATE NORTHERN TAF SITES TODAY...WITH WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS AT CSG AND MCN. 49 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... ATHENS 88 67 90 68 89 / 40 10 30 30 20 ATLANTA 85 70 88 70 88 / 40 20 30 30 20 BLAIRSVILLE 83 64 81 64 83 / 20 10 20 20 20 CARTERSVILLE 87 64 88 64 90 / 20 10 30 20 20 COLUMBUS 86 70 89 71 92 / 50 20 40 30 30 GAINESVILLE 86 69 88 67 87 / 40 10 30 30 20 MACON 86 71 89 69 91 / 50 20 40 30 30 ROME 88 66 89 67 90 / 40 10 20 20 20 PEACHTREE CITY 86 66 88 66 89 / 50 20 30 30 20 VIDALIA 84 71 89 70 89 / 70 30 50 30 50 && .FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 524 AM EDT TUE JUL 7 2009 GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086- 089>098-102>113-080930- 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- 524 AM EDT TUE JUL 7 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTH GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS CENTRAL GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. .SYNOPSIS... A WEAK SURFACE BOUNDARY WILL MEANDER ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL GEORGIA INTO TONIGHT. .PRIMARY HAZARDS... THE PRIMARY HAZARD FROM THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND GUSTY WINDS. THE BEST CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT WILL BE THIS AFTERNOON...GENERALLY SOUTH OF AN ATLANTA TO ATHENS LINE. .DISCUSSION... A WEAK NEARLY STATIONARY BOUNDARY STRETCHING ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL GEORGIA WILL SERVE AS A FOCUS FOR ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT ACROSS NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. WITH CAPES INCREASING INTO THE 1000 TO 2000 RANGE THIS AFTERNOON...SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BE STRONG...MAINLY ACROSS CENTRAL GEORGIA WHERE THE BEST INSTABILITY IS EXPECTED. HOWEVER...THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LIMITS AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY...MAINLY DURING THE AFTERNOONS AND EVENINGS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 1250 PM EDT TUE JUL 7 2009 GAZ076-071715- 1250 PM EDT TUE JUL 7 2009 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR PEA SIZED HAIL AND 40 MPH WINDS IN JEFFERSON COUNTY UNTIL 115 PM EDT... AT 1249 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER MOXLEY...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. THIS STORM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE PEA SIZED HAIL...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH AS IT MOVES ACROSS JEFFERSON COUNTY THROUGH 115 PM EDT. SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE BARTOW...LOUISVILLE...WADLEY AND MOXLEY. BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS WILL CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 131 PM EDT TUE JUL 7 2009 GAZ086-071800- 131 PM EDT TUE JUL 7 2009 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR FREQUENT LIGHTNING IN EMANUEL COUNTY UNTIL 200 PM EDT... AT 131 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER THREE POINTS...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. THIS STORM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND WIND GUSTS TO 35 MPH AS IT MOVES ACROSS NORTHERN EMANUEL COUNTY THROUGH 200 PM EDT. SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE THREE POINTS...SUMMERTOWN...CANOOCHEE AND GARFIELD. BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS WILL CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS.
The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 81 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:36 UTC.
2 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
The John's Creek Herald reported that lightning struck a home on Quail Brook in the John's Creek community, just southeast of Alpharetta. No specific damage information was provided.
The Gwinnett Daily Post of Lawrenceville reported that lightning struck a home in the 1800 block of Pine Road igniting two small fires. The fires were quickly extinguished leaving only minor damage to the structure.
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, July 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: 190745, 190749.