A moderately unstable atmosphere ahead of a strong cold front, combined with a passing upper-level trough and strong shear to produce scattered severe thunderstorms with damaging winds and large hail across North Georgia. This system also managed to produce an isolated tornado.
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 moderately unstable atmosphere ahead of a strong cold front, combined with a passing upper-level trough and strong shear to produce scattered severe thunderstorms with damaging winds and large hail across North Georgia. This system also managed to produce an isolated tornado.
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 1, 2:52 PM EST, 55 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Peachtree City GA 252 PM EST Wed Mar 1 2017 .SHORT TERM /Tonight through Thursday Night/... A strong front will push through GA overnight as an upper trough deepens into the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. Strong shear combined with steep lapse rates and afternoon heating will support severe thunderstorms across much of north and central GA this afternoon and into the evening. A tornado watch is currently in effect for northwest GA until 00z. Depending on the evolution of these storms...severe weather may continue to develop into central and east GA tonight. The precipitation should exit the forecast area around 12z Thursday with only slight chance pops remaining in that area after sunrise. Winds will continue to gust into the overnight however it looks like they may remain just below advisory criteria. A much drier and cooler air mass will build into the area tomorrow and tomorrow night. Some temperatures near freezing are in store for northeast GA tomorrow night. 41 .LONG TERM /Friday through Wednesday/... No changes made to the extended forecast. For the most part the long term is rather quiet and dry. Moisture return expected late Monday into Tuesday timeframe along with a cold front moving to the area with lead to chances of showers...with a slight chance of thunderstorms on Tuesday. GFS and European models are significantly different during this period so details are very much low confidence. Forecast Temperatures will run 3-4 degrees below normal Thursday night and close to normal on Friday. The coolest day will be Saturday with Low temperatures around 6 degrees below normal and Highs near to 4 degrees below normal. Temperature will then warm to above normal starting with Sunday highs. BDL 01 && .AVIATION... 18Z UPDATE... Mvfr ceilings gradually lifting to vfr this afternoon. Showers and thunderstorms spreading across the taf sites later this afternoon and evening...a few possibly severe. Showers clearing the taf sites before sunrise Thursday. Winds gusting from the southwest until frontal passage later tonight...then becoming northwest and gusty late tonight and Thursday. //ATL CONFIDENCE...18Z UPDATE... Medium on thunderstorms timing. High on remaining elements. 41 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Athens 42 61 37 60 / 90 0 0 0 Atlanta 42 58 38 57 / 90 0 0 0 Blairsville 34 52 31 49 / 90 0 0 0 Cartersville 40 57 35 55 / 90 0 0 0 Columbus 47 62 39 63 / 80 5 0 0 Gainesville 41 57 37 55 / 90 0 0 0 Macon 49 63 38 64 / 80 10 0 0 Rome 39 58 35 55 / 70 0 0 0 Peachtree City 41 59 35 59 / 90 0 0 0 Vidalia 56 66 41 66 / 60 30 0 0 && .FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Tornado Watch until 7 PM EST this evening for the following zones: Bartow...Catoosa...Chattooga...Cherokee...Dade...Dawson... Fannin...Floyd...Gilmer...Gordon...Lumpkin...Murray...Pickens... Polk...Towns...Union...Walker...White...Whitfield. && SHORT TERM...41 LONG TERM....01 AVIATION...41
Hazardous Weather Outlook...Updated National Weather Service Peachtree City GA 1213 PM EST Wed Mar 1 2017 GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086- 089>098-102>113-021100- 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- 1213 PM EST Wed Mar 1 2017 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of North and Central Georgia. .DAY ONE...This afternoon and Tonight... The risk for severe weather across north and central Georgia will increase this afternoon and evening as a strong cold front crosses the area. Thunderstorms will develop after 2 PM across extreme northwest Georgia, then a more organized line of storms will move southeast between 4PM and Midnight tonight. Damaging winds will be the primary threat, however, a few storms will be capable of producing tornadoes and large hail. Locally heavy rain and frequent cloud to ground lightning with the strong winds are expected to affect a large area of north and central Georgia. The severe threat will end from northwest to southeast this evening, with storms expected to move south of a Americus to Dublin line after 1 AM. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday... There is a slight chance of thunderstorms next Tuesday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activiation will likely be necesary across much of north and central Georgia, especially after 2 PM this afternoon, through this evening.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
11 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 1 tornado, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Quarter-sized hail was reported by an attendant at the Pilot Travel Center at exit 4 on I-59 at Deer Head Cove Road in Rising Fawn.
The Dade County Emergency Manager reported several trees blown down near I-59 at exit 4 as well as trees and power lines blown down at the intersection of Highway 11 South and Lambert Lane.
A National Weather Service survey team found that an EF-1 tornado with peak winds of 85 to 90 MPH traveled just under 3 miles across northern Chatsworth in Murray County. The tornado touched down just east of Highway 225 destroying a barn on Dogwood Circle. The tornado continued moving east striking a tractor-trailer storage facility along Lowy Road where it overturned a trailer and snapped or uprooted numerous trees. Continuing east, the tornado struck an industrial building at the intersection of Highland Road and Treadwell Road, peeling back a large section of the roof. An apartment complex across Treadwell Road suffered significant shingle damage and some minor structural damage to the roof. The tornado continued moving east snapping or uprooting trees along Keller Drive and then hit Murray County High School at Green Road and Old Dalton Ellijay Road. The tornado caused significant damage to the baseball fields blowing down a fence and a cinderblock wall and throwing a portion of the bleachers onto the field. The press box also sustained damage. The tornado continued east along West Chestnut Street uprooting and snapping trees, blowing a fence down and collapsing a carport onto a car and a house before dissipating as it reached Highway 411, or North 3rd Avenue. [03/01/17: Tornado #1, County #1/1, EF-1, Murray, 2017:030].
The manager of the Crushed Tomato Restaurant reported a tree blown down onto a car on Montgomery Street in Summerville and the public reported large tree branches blown down as far south as Lyerly.
The manager of the Crushed Tomato restaurant in Summerville reported ping pong ball size hail.
The public reported quarter size hail in Lyerly.
The public reported walnut size hail northwest of Floyd Springs.
Golf ball size hail caused significant damage to vehicles on Boling Industrial Blvd.
Golf ball size hail was reported at the Sunoco gas station on Belwood Road.
The Gordon County Emergency Manager reported ping pong ball size hail at the Gordon County Emergency Management Building.
The Union County Emergency Manager reported several trees blown down on Owltown and Town Creek School Roads.
An amateur radio operator reported quarter size hail fell for about one minute at Hunters Ridge and Redfield Way.
The Lumpkin County Emergency Manager reported several trees blown down at the intersection of Sky Country Road and Wimpy Mill Road.
The Lumpkin County Emergency Manager reported that lightning caused a small brush fire on White Pine Drive.
The White County 911 center reported several trees blown down on Webster Lake Road.
The Haralson County Emergency Manager reported trees blown down across the county from west and north of Tallapoosa, across Buchanan to northwest of Draketown. Some locations include Wildcat Road, U.S. Highway 27 Business and West Head Avenue, J. Davis Road near U.S. Highway 78, Old Ridgeway Road at Old Bush Mill Road, and 5 Points Road at Allred Road. Parts of a metal roof were blown off an outbuilding in the Piney Woods area.
The Paulding County Emergency Manager reported trees and power lines blown down on Gold Mine Road near Lock Lear Circle.
The Paulding County Emergency Manager reported a few trees blown down on Braswell Mountain Road near Brushy Mountain Road.
The Paulding County Emergency Manager reported trees blown down onto power lines in the vicinity of Smith Ferguson Road and Dallas Nebo Road.
The Douglas County Emergency Manager reported a few trees and some power lines blown down on Capps Ferry Road.
The Gwinnett County Emergency Manager reported trees blown down across the northern side of the county, including on Dacula Road in the vicinity of Bailey Woods Road and on Williamsport Drive Northwest where a tree landed on a house. No injuries were reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Georgia in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Georgia, 2017Warnings in Georgia, March 2017
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: 684673, 684674, 684700, 684675, 684676, 684677, 684678, 684682, 684680, 684684, 684687, 684688, 684689, 684690, 684692, 684694, 684695, 684698, 684699, 684696, 684697.