Progressive zonal flow had dominated the southern United States since mid-February. Temperatures were unseasonably warm across the area and moisture levels near to above seasonal normals.
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.
Progressive zonal flow had dominated the southern United States since mid-February. Temperatures were unseasonably warm across the area and moisture levels near to above seasonal normals. A vigorous short wave, embedded within the strong westerly flow, and associated strong Pacific cold front quickly traversed the area during the early morning hours of the 25th. A significant low-level jet and strong low-level shear were noted with this system contributing to strong low-level linear forcing. Thus, synoptic conditions were favorable for a narrow line of showers and thunderstorms, or quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) to quickly traverse the area during the early morning hours. Most of the thunderstorms were marginally severe blowing down a few trees. Some of the trees also landed on and brought down power lines. The event produced no hail and no tornadoes.
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 25, 12:56 AM EST, 34 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 1256 AM EST FRI FEB 25 2011 .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 954 PM EST THU FEB 24 2011/ UPDATE... LIGHT SPRINKLES ACROSS PORTIONS OF NORTH AND WEST GEORGIA EARLIER...NOW JUST ABOUT GONE. WATCHING LINE OF SHOWERS/TSTORMS ADVANCING EASTWARD FROM MISSISSIPPI...AND CURRENT TIMING SHOULD PUT IT INTO NORTHWEST GEORGIA AROUND 09Z. CURRENT FORECAST WITH CATEGORICAL TO LIKELY POPS...NORTH AND WEST (SECOND HALF OF THE NIGHT) STILL LOOK GOOD...BUT MAY BE A BIT TOO HIGH OVER EASTERN SECTS. FOR THE MOST PART TEMPS LOOK IN LINE AND ONLY MINOR ADJUSTMENTS PLANNED. 49 SHORT TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT/... /ISSUED 147 PM EST THU FEB 24 2011/ MAIN FOCUS ON THE SHORT TERM WILL BE THE POTENTIAL FOR THUNDERSTORMS AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT. THE GFS/ECMWF/SREF ARE IN AGREEMENT ON TIMING AND STRENGTH HOWEVER THE NAM IS A LITTLE SLOWER AND CONSIDERABLY STRONGER. WILL LEAN TOWARD THE GFS/ECMWF/SREF BLEND BUT KEEP IN MIND THE POTENTIAL OF MORE INSTABILITY THAN WHAT THE GFS/ECMWF IS SHOWING. AS FOR TIMING...THE COLD FRONT AND ASSOCIATED SQUALL LINE WILL STAY WEST OF THE CWA THROUGH 06Z FRI. CANT RULE OUT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS BEFORE THEN AND WILL NEED TO PUT LOW POPS OVER NORTHWEST GA THIS EVENING. THE FRONT/SQUALL LINE ENTERS THE CWA AFTER 06Z AND BY 12Z SHOULD BE ALONG AN AHN-CSG LINE...AND BY 18Z IT WILL BE OUT OF THE CWA. INSTABILITY IS MINIMAL WITH THE LINE...BUT IT IS THERE WITH MUCAPES BETWEEN 200 AND 300. HELICITIES WILL RANGE FROM 400 TO 600. LOW LEVEL JET (H8) MOVES ALONG WITH THE SQUALL LINE WITH MAGNITUDES OF 70 TO 80 KTS. FOR ANY THUNDERSTORM THAT DEVELOPS THERE IS A POTENTIAL TO BRING SOME OF THESE WINDS DOWN TO THE SURFACE. FOR THESE REASONS WILL MENTION SOME POSSIBLY SEVERE ACROSS NORTH GEORGIA AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. TOWARD 12Z FRI THE INSTABILITY DECREASES...HOWEVER THERE APPEARS TO BE AN INCREASE IN INSTABILITY TOWARD 18Z AS THE FRONT MOVES ACROSS PARTS OF CENTRAL GEORGIA AND WILL NEED TO KEEP A RISK OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THAT AREA AT LEAST THROUGH 18Z...AND PERHAPS A BIT PAST 18Z IN THE EXTREME SOUTHEAST PART OF THE CWA. ZONAL FLOW RETURNS FOR SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT WITH AN EASTERLY LOW LEVEL FLOW WHICH SHOULD KEEP TEMPS SLIGHTLY COOLER FOR SATURDAY. IT WILL ALSO REMAIN DRY FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. TEMPS...GUIDANCE OVER THE PAST 5 TO 10 DAYS HAS HAD A STRONG COLD BIAS ON MAX TEMPS...BOTH MET AND MAV...AS MUCH AS 7 DEGREES TOO COLD IN SOME AREAS. MIN TEMPS ALSO HAS A COLD BIAS BUT NOT AS GREAT...MAINLY BETWEEN 1 TO 3 DEGREES TOO COLD ON ALL PERIODS. LOOKING AT LOW LEVEL THICKNESS TRENDS...GOING ABOVE GUIDANCE THROUGH AT LEAST SATURDAY SEEMS APPROPRIATE FOR MOST SITES. LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... /ISSUED 147 PM EST THU FEB 24 2011/ BOTH GFS AND ECMWF STILL HAVE THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM AFFECTING THE CWA LATE SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY. A WEST TO NORTHWEST FLOW WILL REMAIN OVER THE CWA FROM MONDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY KEEPING THE CWA MILD AND DRY. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO THE LONG TERM PLANNED. && .AVIATION... 06Z UPDATE... LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HOLDING TOGETHER AS IT MOVES EAST TOWARD TAF SITES. EXPECT WIND GUSTS 30-35KTS AS THE LINE MOVES THROUGH. ALTHOUGH HIGHER GUSTS ARE POSSIBLE...NOT CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO INCLUDE IN THE TAF AT THIS POINT. ALREADY SEEING GUSTS TO 27KTS AHEAD OF THE LINE. THE LINE OF +TSRA THOUGH SHOULD BE FAIRLY SHORT LIVED...BUT WILL SEE MORE RAIN BEHIND THE LINE. BEST GUESS FOR +TSRA AT ATL IS 08-10Z...BUT AN HOUR OR TWO LATER AT CSG...AHN AND MCN. SOMEWHAT UN-CONFIDENT ON HOW LOW THE CIGS WILL GO AS WE ARE JUST STARTING TO SEE 1500FT CIGS AND BELOW IN ALABAMA. //ATL CONFIDENCE...06Z UPDATE... MEDIUM CONFIDENCE ON CIGS...VSBYS AND WIND. 11 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... ATHENS 39 65 44 72 / 0 0 0 10 ATLANTA 41 67 49 72 / 0 0 0 20 BLAIRSVILLE 34 57 41 63 / 0 0 0 30 CARTERSVILLE 35 68 48 71 / 0 0 0 30 COLUMBUS 45 75 52 78 / 0 0 0 10 GAINESVILLE 39 62 45 68 / 0 0 0 20 MACON 40 74 45 77 / 0 0 0 10 ROME 34 69 45 70 / 0 0 0 40 PEACHTREE CITY 33 70 43 73 / 0 0 0 20 VIDALIA 49 75 53 79 / 0 0 0 5 && .FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 4 AM EST EARLY THIS MORNING FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: BARTOW...CARROLL...CATOOSA...CHATTOOGA... CHEROKEE...CLAYTON...COBB...COWETA...DADE...DAWSON...DEKALB... DOUGLAS...FANNIN...FAYETTE...FLOYD...FORSYTH...GILMER...GORDON... GWINNETT...HALL...HARALSON...HEARD...LUMPKIN...MURRAY...NORTH FULTON...PAULDING...PICKENS...POLK...SOUTH FULTON...TOWNS... UNION...WALKER...WHITE...WHITFIELD. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 321 PM EST THU FEB 24 2011 GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086- 089>098-102>113-252030- 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- 321 PM EST THU FEB 24 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA TONIGHT...ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTH GEORGIA. .SYNOPSIS... A DEEPENING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM LIFTING OUT OF THE SOUTHERN PLAINS INTO THE OHIO VALLEY TODAY WILL DRAG A COLD FRONT INTO NORTH GEORGIA LATE TONIGHT. .PRIMARY HAZARDS... THE PRIMARY HAZARD WILL BE DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING... AFTER MIDNIGHT. ISOLATED DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE MAINLY ACROSS AREAS NORTH OF A NEWNAN TO WASHINGTON LINE. .DISCUSSION... ALTHOUGH THE MAIN STORM SYSTEM WILL BE WELL NORTH OF THE STATE...AND INSTABILITY IS EXPECTED TO BE MARGINAL...SUFFICIENT LOW LEVEL SHEAR IS EXPECTED FOR SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS AHEAD OF THE FRONT. ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTH GEORGIA WHERE THE BEST SHEAR WILL MOVE IN AFTER MIDNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY... OTHERWISE NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ACTIVATION IS NOT REQUESTED BUT SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO SUBMIT REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER THROUGH THE WEB BY GOING TO WEATHER.GOV/ATLANTA.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 103 AM EST FRI FEB 25 2011 GAZ001>003-011-019-250730- 103 AM EST FRI FEB 25 2011 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR ENHANCED RISK OF DAMAGING WIND AND POSSIBLY A FEW WEAK TORNADOES IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA THROUGH 230 AM EST... AT 102 AM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A A LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ABOUT 15 MILES WEST OF COLE CITY IN NORTH DADE COUNTY TO 35 MILES WEST OF CHATTOOGAVILLE IN SOUTHERN CHATTOOGA COUNTY. THIS LINE WAS MOVING EAST AT 60 MPH AND IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO DADE COUNTY BY 130 AM EST...THEN WALKER... CHATTOOGA AND FLOYD COUNTIES BY 2 AM EST IF NOT SOONER. THE LEADING EDGE OF THIS LINE HAS PRODUCED SOME DAMAGING WINDS AND OCCASIONALLY EXHIBITS LOCALIZED WEAK ROTATION...BUT NOTHING STRONG ENOUGH TO INDICATE THE PRESENCE OF A TORNADO AT THIS TIME. STILL...THE ENVIRONMENT ALONG THIS LINE SUGGESTS A RISK OF VERY BRIEF...GENERALLY WEAK TORNADOES FORMING...POSSIBLY WITHOUT WARNING. DAMAGING WIND GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH SEEMS TO BE THE MAIN THREAT WITH THIS LINE...BUT A WEAK TORNADO CANNOT BE RULED OUT. RESIDENTS IN FAR NORTHWEST GEORGIA ARE URGED TO REMAIN INDOORS AND ALERT TO THE POSSIBILITY OF LOCALIZED WIND DAMAGE AND WEAK TORNADOES THAT FORM AND DISSIPATE RAPIDLY. ONCE THIS LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVES EAST OF YOUR AREA...THE RISK OF DAMAGING WIND OR TORNADO ACTIVITY WILL DECREASE SIGNIFICANTLY.
The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 74 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 06:31 UTC.
5 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Catoosa County 911 Center reported that three trees were down, also knocking down three power lines.
The Dade County 911 Center reported that three trees were down in the Wallwood area in the north part of the county.
The Walker County 911 Center reported that three trees were down in the south end of the county, south of LaFayette.
The Haralson County 911 Center reported that two trees were down, also bringing down two power lines.
The Carroll County 911 Center reported that two trees were down, also bringing down two power lines.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Georgia in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, February 2011
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: 283034, 283035, 283033, 283211, 283215.