Hurricane Idalia made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida as a category 3 hurricane. As Idalia moved inland to the northeast, it brought tropical storm-force winds and heavy rain to much of south Georgia, including far southeast counties of NWS Peachtree City CWFA (Telfair to Toombs county) where winds gusted between 40-50 mph and 3 to 6 inches of rain occurred.
Every event with a place to put it; 20 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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.
Hurricane Idalia made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida as a category 3 hurricane. As Idalia moved inland to the northeast, it brought tropical storm-force winds and heavy rain to much of south Georgia, including far southeast counties of NWS Peachtree City CWFA (Telfair to Toombs county) where winds gusted between 40-50 mph and 3 to 6 inches of rain occurred. Damage to trees and powerlines was observed in Emanuel, Montgomery, Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, and Wheeler counties.
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 Aug 30, 11:19 AM EST, 50 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Peachtree City GA 1219 PM EDT Wed Aug 30 2023 ...Mid-day Update... .UPDATE... Issued at 1203 PM EDT Wed Aug 30 2023 Hurricane Idalia continues to track northeast currently moving through far southeast Georgia at this hour. Latest radar imagery shows the outer rainbands of this storm bringing plenty of rainfall to areas generally along and south of Columbus to Athens. Heavier rainfall is occurring for areas primarily south of Macon. The center of this storms will remain just outside of our forecast area, though within the next hour or so winds across our southeast Georgia counties will start to pick up. Already seeing wind observations nearing 35 MPH. Over the next several hours the primary concern will be for flooding, as the outer bands transverse the area and/or heavier bands train over an area for a period of time. No major changes were made to any of the tropical headlines or the Flood Watch. Made a few tweaks to PoPs to reflect current trends and to account for movement of Idalia over the next 12 hours or so. && .SHORT TERM... (Today through Thursday) Issued at 538 AM EDT Wed Aug 30 2023 Hurricane Idalia (a major Category 4 hurricane as of 5 AM) continues to make its way quickly northward to a landfall in a couple of hours in the Big Bend of Florida. Idalia will obviously be the focus through the day today as it makes rapid progress into southern and southeastern Georgia by midday into the afternoon. Impacts will begin to increase appreciably across our southeastern counties beginning mid to late morning as the northern extent of the rain shield arrives and northeasterly winds begin to increase. A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for areas generally along and south of an Americus to Macon to Milledgeville to Warrenton line, where the most substantial impacts are forecast, along with a Flood Watch for this same general area. Impacts along the northwestern boundary of the Tropical Storm Warning will be lesser than those farther southeast, though gusty winds to 40 mph and rainfall amounts of 1-3" are possible in these areas. The highest impacts will be in the far southeastern counties where the heaviest rainfall amounts of 4-8" with locally higher amounts are forecast along with wind gusts near or over 50 mph, which would lead to increased flash and river flooding potential as well as downed trees and scattered power outages. A final threat will be isolated tornadoes in the far southeast within the outer bands of Idalia. Fortunately, Idalia is a fast-moving storm and will be shunted eastward as a surface cold front pushes southward into north Georgia, and impacts will begin to quickly diminish after 00-03Z. Farther to the northwest, breezy conditions will increase through the day across north Georgia with gusts as high as 20-30 mph as the pressure gradient increases. Light rain showers will be possible as far northwest as the ATL metro through the afternoon. By late afternoon and early evening, a band of scattered showers and thunderstorms looks to develop in the vicinity of the front in north Georgia into metro ATL as tropical moisture surges around the back side of Idalia and interacts with the front. Locally heavy rainfall would be possible within this area, though much more isolated and not to the extent of the swath of heavy rainfall near and just north of the core of Idalia in the southeast CWA. Rapidly drying conditions will occur overnight as Idalia quickly exits eastward, and the surface front settles southward. Mostly dry conditions are expected Thursday, though lingering moisture associated with an inverted trough over the Gulf Coast could produce a couple of isolated showers in Middle Georgia. RW && .LONG TERM... (Thursday night through Tuesday) Issued at 538 AM EDT Wed Aug 30 2023 Looking at the forecast for this week, following the exit of Hurricane Idalia high pressure is expected to settle into the area for the remainder of the next 7 days. With this will come relatively nice weather as rain chances are near zero through the remainder of the next 7 days. Central GA may see some sea breeze activity Friday into Saturday but not expecting much impacts from that. Other than that temps are expected to be seasonable in the 80s to 90s for highs and the 60s-70s for lows. Hernandez && .AVIATION... (12Z TAFS) Issued at 713 AM EDT Wed Aug 30 2023 Widespread IFR to LIFR cigs exist in the vicinity of most TAF sites this morning. While a few breaks in the low cigs are possible in vicinity of ATL, generally expect IFR to prevail through 14-15Z before primarily MVFR through the day, though some breaks are possible. Widespread SHRA will increase at MCN through the morning and persist through the afternoon with -SHRA possible as far NW as ATL sites this afternoon. Primary time frame for sct TSRA 20-02Z in vcty of ATL. E to NE winds will increase through the afternoon as high as 20-25kts with gusts 35 kts at MCN with lower speeds 12-16 kts at other sites with gusts around 25kts. Winds will taper after 00Z with a wind shift to NW. //ATL Confidence...12Z Update... Medium confidence on cigs. High confidence on other elements. RW && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Athens 66 83 64 80 / 60 20 10 0 Atlanta 66 86 67 82 / 50 10 10 10 Blairsville 59 81 60 79 / 30 10 10 10 Cartersville 63 86 67 81 / 30 10 10 10 Columbus 69 90 70 84 / 40 20 20 20 Gainesville 66 83 65 80 / 50 10 10 10 Macon 69 86 67 81 / 40 20 10 10 Rome 64 87 67 85 / 20 10 10 10 Peachtree City 64 87 66 82 / 50 10 10 10 Vidalia 71 85 67 82 / 80 20 10 10 && .FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Flood Watch through late tonight for GAZ039-050-051-059>062- 071>076-080>086-091>098-103>113. Tropical Storm Warning for GAZ061-062-072>076-080>086-092>098- 104>113. && SHORT TERM...RW LONG TERM....Hernandez AVIATION...RW
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Peachtree City GA 1115 AM EDT Wed Aug 30 2023 GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086- 089>098-102>113-311515- 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- 1115 AM EDT Wed Aug 30 2023 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of North and Central Georgia. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight... Widespread showers and embedded thunderstorms are expected mainly across the southeastern half of the forecast area as Hurricane Idalia tracks across southeast Georgia. The greatest rainfall totals associated with Idalia will be across the far southeastern portion of the area where as much as 6-8 inches of rainfall with locally higher totals will lead to a potentially significant flooding threat. Additionally, wind gusts up to 50 mph are possible across the southeastern portion of the area as Idalia moves through, which may down trees and cause scattered power outages. Brief tornadoes will also be possible within the outer bands of Idalia across the far southeastern portion of the area. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday... Isolated thunderstorms are possible across portions of central Georgia Thursday afternoon and Friday afternoon. Otherwise, no hazardous weather is expected at this time. .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.
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Peachtree City GA
846 AM EDT Wed Aug 30 2023
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0700 AM Rain 1 NE Duluth 34.01N 84.14W
08/30/2023 M7.60 inch Gwinnett GA Cocorahs
Cocorahs station GA-GW-33 Duluth 0.9 ENE.
0815 AM Rain 1 NW Berkeley Lake 34.00N 84.20W
08/30/2023 M5.20 inch Fulton GA Mesonet
Mesonet station NCRG1 1.5 NW Berkeley Lake.
0700 AM Rain 1 NNW Jim R Miller Park 33.91N 84.59W
08/30/2023 M4.46 inch Cobb GA Cocorahs
Cocorahs station GA-CB-70 Jim R Miller Park.
0828 AM Rain 1 SSE Smyrna 33.87N 84.50W
08/30/2023 M4.10 inch Cobb GA Mesonet
Mesonet station CW2468 Smyrna.
0700 AM Rain 2 W Berkeley Lake 33.99N 84.22W
08/30/2023 M4.06 inch Gwinnett GA Cocorahs
Cocorahs station GA-GW-43 Peachtree Corners
1.1 N.
0700 AM Rain 1 S Smyrna 33.87N 84.51W
08/30/2023 M3.99 inch Cobb GA Cocorahs
Cocorahs station GA-CB-68 Smyrna 0.2 ESE.
0827 AM Rain 1 W Lake Val-Do-Mar 33.74N 84.91W
08/30/2023 M3.65 inch Carroll GA Mesonet
Mesonet station AW127 VILLA RICA.
0830 AM Rain Smyrna 33.89N 84.51W
08/30/2023 M3.64 inch Cobb GA Mesonet
Mesonet station EW4156 Smyrna.
&&Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Peachtree City GA
856 AM EDT Wed Aug 30 2023
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0753 PM Flash Flood 1 SSW Turner Field 33.72N 84.39W
08/28/2023 Fulton GA Emergency Mngr
Street flooding and water rescue with water
up to the windows of a car.
&&
KMEPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Peachtree City GA
1055 AM EDT Wed Aug 30 2023
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0905 PM Flash Flood 2 SSW Dunwoody 33.92N 84.34W
08/29/2023 DeKalb GA Emergency Mngr
I-285 W between the Ashford Dunwoody Rd exit
and Peachtree Dunwoody Rd exit was
completely shut down for about an hour due
to flooding.
&&
KMEThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
20 tropical storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Emergency manager reported a tree and powerlines down at the intersection of GA 165 and Marchants Dairy Rd.
AWOS station in Eastman (KEZM) reported a wind gust to 40 mph.
Broadcast media reported a tree downed along SR 46 near Soperton due to Tropical Storm Idalia.
Emergency manager reported trees and powerlines down along GA Hwy 135 between Higgston and Uvalde. Hardest hit areas were south of Hwy 280.
Emergency manager reported multiple trees down along Hwy 117, just west of Lumber City.
Emergency manager reported multiple trees down along Hwy 19 and St Paul Church Road.
Emergency manager reported several trees down near intersection of Fox Road and Rabbit Road in southern Wheeler County.
Emergency manager reported multiple trees and powerlines down around the city of Glenwood.
Several reports of trees down per emergency manager, some on powerlines, along E. River Road and Hwy 117 and Dodges Lake Road in Jacksonville.
An emergency manager reported that Telfair County firefighter was injured when a tree came down. The person is said to be in stable condition at a regional hospital.
Mesonet station MRAG1 Mcrae reported a wind gust of 39 mph.
University of Georgia Mesonet station in Vidalia measured a wind gust of 42 mph.
AWOS station at Vidalia Muni (KVDI) reported a wind gust of 39 mph.
Emergency manager reported roughly 40 trees down across Toombs County, especially on the East side of Hwy 1. Location around Toombs Central Elementary School had several large trees blown over.
Emergency manager reported roughly 30 trees down across Montgomery County with areas around Higgston near the intersection of US 280 and Hwy 29 with seeing multiple trees down.
University of Georgia Mesonet station UGA58 Vidalia reported a wind gust of 49 mph.
Emergency manager reported roughly 6 trees and powerlines down near Oak Park and along I-16.
Emergency manager passed along roughly 18 reports of trees and some powerlines down in and West of Swainsboro.
Emergency manager reported roughly 7 trees and some powerlines down from Twin City to Garfield.
Emergency manager reported 5 trees down between Summertown and Midville.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Georgia in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, August 2023The 2023 hurricane season
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: 1125501, 1125504, 1125514, 1125518, 1125522, 1125529, 1125531, 1125536, 1125544, 1125550, 1125505, 1125566, 1125506, 1125570, 1125574, 1125507, 1125582, 1125585, 1125588, 1125591.