With a warm and very moist air mass over the area, an upper-level trough moving across the region produced scattered severe thunderstorms from the afternoon into the overnight hours.
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.
With a warm and very moist air mass over the area, an upper-level trough moving across the region produced scattered severe thunderstorms from the afternoon into the overnight hours.
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 3, 1:59 PM EST, 1 hour 36 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Peachtree City GA 259 PM EDT Tue Jul 3 2018 .SHORT TERM /Tonight through Wednesday Night/... While surface high pressure continues to nose into GA from the northeast, an upper level low will retrograde toward the SE coast crossing the FL panhandle by the end of the short term. Expected widely scattered showers and thunderstorms across the area with a wave of weak vorticity moving from east to west later this afternoon/evening. This will result in an increase coverage of showers/thunderstorms across east GA by mid afternoon with that activity moving toward west GA late afternoon/early evening. However, given lack of heating and upper level support, think metro Atlanta will probably see more isolated activity as compared to places such as Athens, Macon and Columbus. With these thunderstorms expect gusty winds, heavy rain and frequent lightning. The activity should diminish fairly quickly this evening with only debris and high clouds remaining through the overnight. As the upper level low gets closer to the GA/FL coast, expect an increase in CU develop during the morning hours with showers/thunderstorms becoming scattered to numerous by the afternoon, especially across central GA with better lifting/moisture available. This could dampen some fourth of July activities, although coverage should diminish by later in the evening. Temperatures will be around climo...highs in the upper 80s/low 90s and mild lows in the mid 70s; lower temperatures across the higher terrain. 26 .LONG TERM /Thursday through Tuesday/... A retrograding synoptic pattern can be expected at the beginning of the long term forecast period...where main weather features will actually be moving from east to west. As we begin around Thursday morning...several notable shortwaves can be picked out near the coastline of the PacNW as well as over the Canadian Prairies as the stronger belt of westerly flow remains confined to northern latitudes. Beneath the stronger flow...an extensive ridge will continue building westward from the Mid Atlantic into the Plains while an westward moving shortwave resides near the western coast of Florida. Lower level pattern mainly features a cold front extending southward from the upper Great Lakes into the Central Plains...associated with Canadian Prairies cyclone. Given the shortwave near Florida...a few showers will be possible into the morning hours of Thursday. The shortwave trough will continue to move west thru the day and carry the deepest moisture away with it. Evidence of some "drier" mid level air can be seen in model guidance on Thursday but given stagnant lower levels...afternoon and evening airmass thunderstorms look to still be possible...but not incredibly widespread. Given the continued retrograding pattern through Friday...mid level ridge influence will begin to build across the Rockies. As it does so...cold frontal boundary associated with previously mentioned Canadian Prairies shortwave will begin to approach the Southern US. This should allow for increasing deeper layer moisture across northern Georgia and the best chance for convective development. Rain and thunder chances increase further on Saturday as the front sags southward thru most of the CWA. At this time not seeing much shear involved...but frontogenetic forcing amidst an unstable boundary layer could lead to a slightly better chance for a few strong to severe storms....with at this point mainly a wind threat. As is usually the case this time of year...the front is expected to stall across central Georgia on Sunday. This will lead to increased chances for showers and thunderstorms with again the potential for a few strong to severe given residual boundary in play. At least north Georgia could see some somewhat drier air and low rain chances behind the front. Some moisture looks to remain across central/southern Ga into next week...but perhaps better ridge influence will take us back to more to the isolated diurnal airmass thunderstorms. Kovacik && AVIATION... 18Z Update... Widely scattered CU deck (~4-5Kft) has develop this afternoon with high resolution models depicting a broken line of iso showers/thunderstorms moving from east to west later this afternoon/evening. However, the coverage looks limited. Only have TEMPO at AHN, MCN and CSG. Debris clouds will erode this evening with scattered high clouds under light easterly winds overnight. Some low clouds possible early tomorrow morning. A bit better coverage of CU and precipitation is expected tomorrow afternoon. Thus added PROB30 to account for thunderstorms at ATL. East winds continue. //ATL Confidence...18Z Update... Low to medium confidence for thunderstorm development at metro TAF sites. Medium to High confidence for all other elements. 26 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Athens 72 90 71 88 / 30 30 30 40 Atlanta 74 89 72 88 / 20 30 30 30 Blairsville 67 87 67 84 / 20 40 30 40 Cartersville 72 90 72 88 / 20 30 20 40 Columbus 74 90 73 90 / 40 50 30 30 Gainesville 73 88 71 87 / 20 30 30 40 Macon 72 90 71 90 / 40 50 40 20 Rome 72 91 72 89 / 20 30 20 40 Peachtree City 72 89 71 88 / 30 40 30 30 Vidalia 73 88 72 90 / 30 70 30 20 && .FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && SHORT TERM...26 LONG TERM....Kovacik AVIATION...26
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Peachtree City GA 301 PM EDT Tue Jul 3 2018 GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086- 089>098-102>113-041915- 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- 301 PM EDT Tue Jul 3 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of North and Central Georgia. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight... Scattered thunderstorms are expected this afternoon and into tonight... especially across central and eastern Georgia. A few storms could be strong to severe with strong gusty winds, frequent lightning and locally heavy rain. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday... There is a chance of thunderstorms each day, however the best chance of thunderstorms will be Friday and Saturday as a cold front moves into Georgia. While a strong to possibly severe thunderstorm is possible each day, the best chance for strong to severe storms will be Friday and Saturday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed through tonight.
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Peachtree City GA
411 PM EDT TUE JUL 3 2018
GAZ062-075-076-032100-
Jefferson GA-Glascock GA-Warren GA-
411 PM EDT TUE JUL 3 2018
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR JEFFERSON...GLASCOCK AND
SOUTHEASTERN WARREN COUNTIES UNTIL 500 PM EDT...
At 410 PM EDT...a strong thunderstorm was over Matthews, or 15 miles
east of Gibson...moving southwest at 15 mph.
HAZARD...Up to 40 mph wind...pea sized hail and frequent cloud to
ground lightning.
IMPACT...Expect minor damage to tree limbs and blowing around of
light...unsecured objects.
Some locations in the path of this storm include
Louisville, Gibson, Wrens, Stapleton, Avera, Mitchell, Edge Hill,
Edgehill, Grange, Stapletons Crossroads, Matthews, Agricola and
Stellaville.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
People outdoors should seek shelter immediately. If you can hear
thunder...you are close enough to be struck by lightning.
LAT...LON 3313 8227 3293 8249 3299 8255 3302 8255
3302 8258 3313 8266 3313 8268 3320 8274
3321 8273 3324 8275 3332 8240 3331 8234
3330 8231 3327 8229 3326 8225 3323 8223
TIME...MOT...LOC 2010Z 043DEG 14KT 3322 8233
HAIL...0.25IN
WIND...40MPHSpecial Weather Statement
National Weather Service Peachtree City GA
414 PM EDT TUE JUL 3 2018
GAZ086-032100-
Emanuel GA-
414 PM EDT TUE JUL 3 2018
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR EMANUEL COUNTY UNTIL 500 PM
EDT...
At 413 PM EDT...a strong thunderstorm was over Collins Lake, or near
Westside...moving west at 25 mph.
HAZARD...Up to 40 mph wind...pea sized hail and frequent cloud to
ground lightning.
IMPACT...Expect minor damage to tree limbs and blowing around of
light...unsecured objects.
Some locations in the path of this storm include
Swainsboro, Twin City, Stillmore, Oak Park, Garfield, Nunez, Modoc,
Canoochee, Lexsy and George L Smith State Park.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
People outdoors should seek shelter immediately. If you can hear
thunder...you are close enough to be struck by lightning.
LAT...LON 3255 8203 3256 8208 3252 8215 3248 8218
3243 8219 3241 8221 3239 8236 3271 8238
3270 8210 3266 8208 3261 8200
TIME...MOT...LOC 2013Z 092DEG 22KT 3255 8197
HAIL...0.25IN
WIND...40MPHThe Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 99 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:34 UTC.
11 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
The Emanuel County 911 center reported trees blown down across the county from Garfield to south of Swainsboro.
The Jefferson County Emergency Manager reported a couple of trees blown down in Louisville.
The Washington County Emergency Manager reported several trees blown down from around the intersection of Old Savannah Road and Highway 242 near Riddleville to around the intersection of Highway 272 and Tennille Oconee Road near Oconee.
The Wilkes County Emergency Manager reported multiple trees and power lines blown down along Lundburg Road and Branham Road south of Washington. One tree fell onto and destroyed a well house at a home on Branham Road.
The Wilkes County Emergency Manager reported a tree blown down at the intersection of Mallorysville Road and Newton Road.
The Oglethorpe County Emergency Manager reported multiple trees and power lines blown down across the northeastern portion of the county from around the Vesta Baptist Church to Lexington.
The Dooly County Emergency Manager reported several trees blown down from Byromville and Vienna to Drayton. In Vienna, a fire station was damaged when a roll-up door at the station was blown inward and the other doors on the building were blown outward. No injuries were reported.
The Stewart County Emergency Manager reported a tree blown down at the intersection of Lamar Street and Meyer Street.
The Chattahoochee County 911 center reported multiple trees and power lines blown down across Ft. Benning, including along Louis Street, Marne Road, Dixie Road and 10th Mountain Division Road.
The Floyd County 911 center reported numerous trees and power lines blown down across the northern part of the county in the Plainville, Everett Springs and Armuchee areas. One male received minor cuts when a glass door was blown in west of Armuchee.
The Chattooga County Emergency Manager reported numerous trees and power lines blown down across the county from Trion to Silver Hill, Summerville and Lyerly.
A man was reported struck by lightning near Dalton on the 4th of July and later died. Officials confirmed the fatality several days after the event. Exact time is unknown.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning, Whitfield | 2018-07-04 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Georgia in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, July 2018
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: 769691, 769692, 769693, 769694, 769695, 769696, 769704, 769713, 769725, 769734, 769735, 784380.