A very moist and unstable air mass, coupled with an active northerly flow aloft produced scattered showers and thunderstorms across much of North GA and|Central GA.
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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 very moist and unstable air mass, coupled with an active northerly flow aloft produced scattered showers and thunderstorms across much of North GA and|Central GA.
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 21, 9:05 AM EST, 3 hours 35 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...Update National Weather Service Peachtree City GA 1005 AM EDT THU JUL 21 2016 .Late Morning Update... Morning sounding shows a very moist and unstable airmass in place... with 1.72 pw's and a modified sounding for this afternoon producing nearly 4000 J/KG of mucape. This coupled with an active north to nw wind flow has warranted increasing area afternoon and early evening pops into the 40-50 percent range for now. The moist airmass coupled with some mid level dry air and relatively low wet bulb zero values between 11k and 12k feet all suggest the main storm threats today will be frequent lightning... locally heavy rain... pea to quarter sized hail and the greater concern of 40-60+ mph downburst winds...which would be sufficient to down a few trees and power lines. SPC continues to show the SE in a Marginal Risk Area for today... and this definitely looks reasonable. The strong to potentially severe storms should begin to develop between 1 and 2 pm this afternoon... and could occur just about anywhere today as storms are mainly driven by their own outflows. The storm threat should greatly diminish by 10-11 pm this evening with loss of daytime heating. All interest are encouraged to monitor storms closely later today and be ready to move indoors if thunder roars. /39 .Previous Discussions.../Issued at 414 AM EDT THU JUL 21 2016/ SHORT TERM /Today through Friday/... Upper ridge centered west of the MS river will continue as the dominant weather feature across the forecast area with a general northerly flow aloft. Convection should be mainly diurnal...lasting into the evening. No obvious dynamics to focus convection next couple of days...except maybe any remnant boundaries and the persistent lee side trough. So have started with slight chance mid morning and increased to chance by afternoon today and again Friday. SPC has much of the area in a marginal risk for today. With abundant heating and a moist air mass yielding afternoon capes of around 2000 to 2500 or more...a few storms could become strong to severe this afternoon and evening. Temperatures are basically persistence...highs mostly mid 90s. No heat advisory planned for today...only an isolated area over central GA may reach 105 heat index. 41 LONG TERM /Friday Night through Wednesday/... A very stagnant pattern remains into the extended forecast with not much change expected anytime soon. Large east to west oriented upper ridge stays centered over the central and southern plains and continues to be the main focus in this weather pattern. This ridge does weaken a bit and becomes even more elongated (west to east) through the end of next week...but it continues to direct the over all flow around the central and mid-south states through day 7. Moisture continues to rotate around the periphery of the ridge with slight/chance pops expected everyday across North and Central Georgia. Looking a bit past day 7...not seeing any drying trends setting up so it appears we are in this diurnal precip pattern for a while. There are also no signs of tropical development in Atlantic basin. Temps also stay warm in the extended with daytime highs mainly in the 90s and nighttime lows in the upper 60s and 70s. 01 && .AVIATION... /Issued at 737 AM EDT THU JUL 21 2016/ 12z Update... Expect diurnal cumulus around 15z with some patchy mid/high clouds. ifr stratus possible in areas that received rain. Convection expected again this afternoon during peak heating...and should be scattered in nature. Winds will be light for much of the period...switching from the east this morning to southwest by afternoon. Speeds will be light and average 8kt or less. //ATL Confidence...12Z Update... Medium confidence on winds. High confidence remaining elements. 41 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Athens 96 72 96 74 / 40 30 20 10 Atlanta 95 74 95 75 / 40 30 20 10 Blairsville 89 66 91 68 / 40 30 30 10 Cartersville 95 72 95 73 / 40 30 20 10 Columbus 97 75 97 75 / 30 30 30 10 Gainesville 93 72 94 74 / 40 30 20 10 Macon 97 72 97 74 / 40 30 30 10 Rome 97 72 97 73 / 30 30 20 10 Peachtree City 96 71 95 72 / 40 30 20 10 Vidalia 96 73 97 74 / 30 30 30 10 && .FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && SHORT TERM...41/39 LONG TERM....01 AVIATION...41/39
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 1020 AM EDT THU JUL 21 2016 GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086- 089>098-102>113-221200- 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- 1020 AM EDT THU JUL 21 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED OVER NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA...MAINLY BETWEEN 1PM AND 10PM. A FEW OF THESE STORMS COULD BE STRONG TO SEVERE. WEATHER HAZARDS EXPECTED... WIND GUSTS BETWEEN 40 AND 60 MPH... FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN ARE THE MAIN STORM THREATS TODAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE EACH AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SOME STORMS MAY PRODUCE ISOLATED AREAS OF DAMAGING WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT REQUESTED BUT SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO SUBMIT REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER THROUGH THE WEB BY GOING TO WEATHER.GOV/ATLANTA.
The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 22 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:40 UTC.
14 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
The Coweta County Emergency Manager reported that at least seven trees snapped or blown down in Newnan. Some streets impacted include Greenville, East Broad, LaGrange and 1st Avenue. A large tree fell on a house on Wilcoxen Street. No injuries were reported.
The Wilkes County 911 center reported numerous trees blown down in the Washington area. Location include Highway 44, Highway 47 and Oka Street. A tree fell on a house on Lincolnton Road causing significant damage to the home, but no injuries to the occupants.
The Taliaferro County 911 center reported trees blown down along Highway 47 between Crawfordville and Washington.
The Cherokee County Emergency Manager reported trees blown down on Fairview Road off Ball Ground Highway, on Old Dawsonville Highway near Roy Haynes Drive, on Gilmer Ferry Road at Valley Street and at Ball Ground Highway and Howell Bridge Road.
The Gwinnett County Emergency Manager reported that a tree was blown down onto a home on Stoney Field Place. No injuries were reported.
The Bartow County 911 center reported a tree blown down on Gaddis Road.
The DeKalb County Emergency Manager reported several trees blown down across northern DeKalb County. A large tree was blown down at the intersection of Chamblee Dunwoody Road and Nerine Circle.
The Henry County 911 center reported multiple trees and power lines blown down between Stockbridge and McDonough.
The broadcast media reported trees blown down along Highway 112 north of Cary.
The public reported a power line blown down on Robins Parkway just south of 7th Street and a large tree blown down onto a home in the Woodbridge subdivision. No injuries were reported.
The Jackson County 911 center reported a tree blown down on Highway 53 at Tapp Wood Road.
The Talbot County 911 center reported large tree limbs blown down onto power lines on Highway 240.
The public reported quarter size hail at O'Hanlon's Restaurant on Highway 80 near Geneva.
The Barrow County 911 center reported trees blown down along Gainesville Highway between Shiva Boulevard and Mulberry Road.
The Walton County 911 center reported trees and power lines blown down on McDaniel Street in Monroe.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Georgia in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, July 2016
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: 653904, 653906, 653907, 653909, 653910, 653912, 653914, 653915, 653917, 653920, 653921, 653923, 653925, 653928, 653929.