Respectable instability and moderate lift from a digging upper-level trough initiated scattered thunderstorms across portions of North and Central GA. A couple of storms in the Northwest ATL Metro were able to become strong with damaging winds and large hail.
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.
Respectable instability and moderate lift from a digging upper-level trough initiated scattered thunderstorms across portions of North and Central GA. A couple of storms in the Northwest ATL Metro were able to become strong with damaging winds and large hail.
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 Sep 12, 6:53 AM EST, 5 hours 7 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Peachtree City GA 753 AM EDT Tue Sep 12 2023 ...New 12Z Aviation Discussion... .SHORT TERM... (Today through Wednesday) Issued at 439 AM EDT Tue Sep 12 2023 Key Messages: - Afternoon diurnal thunderstorms expected across north and central Georgia today. Severe weather is not expected, but a strong thunderstorm cannot be ruled out. - Front will move into Georgia Tuesday night and stall just east of I-85 corridor. Wednesday rain chances will be highest to the east of this front. Forecast: Early morning showers have settled down and CWA is left with some cloud cover in a few places. Cloud cover is help keep potential fog development at bay where it exists, though we are seeing signs of the usual mountain valley fog in the NE. Elsewhere, if you can see the moon, you could see some shallow, patchy fog develop, especially near bodies of water or open fields. This will quickly burn off with sunrise. Trough is finally digging out of Canada into the eastern CONUS today. Shortwave is noted in water vapor imagery on the south side of this trough. This wave will help drive front towards the CWA today into tonight with plenty of moisture advection out ahead of it. Atmosphere should be a bit more supportive of afternoon convection today when compared to previous few days - expecting greater coverage, so PoPs are a bit higher. Not much in the way of shear, but CAPE does reach up to 2000+ J/kg with better upper level support, so while not expecting anything severe, won't rule out a few strong storms today. Tonight, front moves into CWA. Some questions remain on just how much rain/convection will accompany this. Expecting that storms and showers will linger for a few hours past sunset before clearing. Moisture pooling along and ahead of front may lead to some fog formation if skies do clear for a bit. Tomorrow, broader trough to the north will become increasingly more negatively tilted, which should help drive cooler continental airmass into CWA and give the front a bit of a shove, though the real push may not be until closer to sunset. This will allow for some afternoon convection once again along and ahead of the front. Expected position of front to start day will be just east of I-85 corridor, so PoPs reflect best chances of storms out ahead of that. Given combo of instability, a little bit better shear profile, and forcing of front, will need to keep on eye on Wednesday in eastern Georgia for some severe potential. Uncertainty and parameter space is such that it doesn't warrant introduction of any risk areas today, but some convective models are showing more robust convection than previous days. Lusk && .LONG TERM... (Wednesday night through Monday) Issued at 439 AM EDT Tue Sep 12 2023 Key Messages: - Isolated thunderstorms have been introduced into the forecast for central and western Georgia Thursday through Saturday. - The next trough of low pressure could bring rain and thunderstorms to the region Sunday and Monday. Thursday through Saturday: The overall synoptic pattern remains unchanged for this period. Hurricane Lee should be moving northward off the Atlantic Coast, while a surface high will be in place over the Great Lakes. The pressure gradient between the two should drive a wedge front into Georgia Thursday and Friday. This pattern may break down somewhat Saturday as Lee move further north. The main change for this period appears to be with the placement of a mid level (~700 mb) trough axis. Prior forecasts had this feature over Alabama/Mississippi Thursday and Friday, but it is looking increasingly like it will be over western Georgia during this period. Several weak shortwaves could ride this trough east between Thursday and Friday resulting in isolated thunderstorm activity despite limited moisture (GEFS & EPS Mean PW values near 1.15 inches all three days) and instability. With these changes in mind we have add a slight chance for thunderstorms to the forecast in central Georgia Thursday and western portions of Georgia Friday and Saturday. The temperature forecast for this period remains relatively unchanged. Due to the active wedge front temperatures should be at or slightly below seasonal averages (1 to 3 degrees below average). This should produce highs in the lower 80s for most, with 70s in the mountains of north Georgia. Early Next Week: Ensemble guidance from the EPS and GEFS seems to be getting a better grip on the timing of the next upper level trough. The majority of ensemble members now favor Sunday/Monday for the passage of the trough axis. Moisture return looks decent ahead of the trough with mean PW values climbing back to around 1.5 inches. Toss in another frontal boundary and there should be sufficient lift and moisture for shower and thunderstorm activity. Our going forecast hones in on the Sunday afternoon to Monday morning time period for the best rain potential. This time period could still shift by 12 to 24 hours given model uncertainties. Albright && .AVIATION... (12Z TAFS) Issued at 746 AM EDT Tue Sep 12 2023 VFR conditions to start TAF period. Sct afternoon thunderstorms expected today. Cu field at around 4-5 kft during afternoon. Winds will be SW at 4-8 kts. SHRA and TSRA could linger into overnight hours. Chance of MVFR or IFR cigs/vsbys at all TAF sites by sunrise on Wednesday. //ATL Confidence...12Z Update... Medium overnight cigs/vsbys. See above. High all others. Lusk && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Athens 67 85 64 80 / 30 20 10 10 Atlanta 69 86 65 82 / 30 20 10 10 Blairsville 60 79 55 76 / 30 20 0 10 Cartersville 65 84 61 81 / 30 10 0 10 Columbus 70 90 68 86 / 20 40 10 30 Gainesville 67 84 63 79 / 30 20 10 10 Macon 69 88 68 84 / 30 30 10 20 Rome 66 85 60 83 / 30 10 0 10 Peachtree City 66 86 64 82 / 20 20 10 20 Vidalia 71 89 70 85 / 40 50 20 30 && .FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && SHORT TERM...Lusk LONG TERM....Albright AVIATION...Lusk
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Peachtree City GA 438 AM EDT Tue Sep 12 2023 GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086- 089>098-102>113-130845- 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- 438 AM EDT Tue Sep 12 2023 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of North and Central Georgia. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight... The probability of widespread hazardous weather is low. An isolated thunderstorms are expected between 2 PM and 2 AM, with the greatest coverage occurring between 4 PM and 8 PM. Any storms will be capable of frequent lightning and heavy rainfall. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday... Isolated to scattered thunderstorms are expected each day through Monday. Expect the greatest storm coverage to occur Wednesday, then again Sunday afternoon through Monday. At this time the risk for severe weather during any time period remain minimal. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected through tonight.
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Peachtree City GA
940 AM EDT Tue Sep 12 2023
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0315 PM Tstm Wnd Dmg 3 W Williamson 33.18N 84.41W
09/11/2023 Pike GA Mesonet
Mesonet station UGA26 Williamson.
&&Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Peachtree City GA
1247 PM EDT Tue Sep 12 2023
GAZ014-022>024-121715-
Hall GA-Banks GA-Dawson GA-Forsyth GA-
1247 PM EDT Tue Sep 12 2023
...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of northeastern
Forsyth, northwestern Banks, southeastern Dawson and Hall Counties
through 115 PM EDT...
At 1247 PM EDT, a strong thunderstorm was over War Hill Park, or near
Gainesville, moving northeast at 25 mph.
HAZARD...Up to 40 mph wind, frequent cloud to ground lightning and
heavy rain.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Expect minor damage to tree limbs and blowing around of
light, unsecured objects. Heavy rain may cause temporary
street flooding especially in poor drainage areas.
Locations impacted include...
Gainesville, Homer, Oakwood, Lula, Clermont, Gillsville, Murrayville,
Oscarville, Hollingsworth, War Hill Park, and Chestatee.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
People outdoors should seek shelter immediately. If you can hear
thunder, you are close enough to be struck by lightning. Motorists
should slow down and be prepared for possible loss of control due to
hydroplaning.
&&
LAT...LON 3450 8378 3450 8367 3443 8361 3448 8356
3449 8353 3436 8346 3422 8396 3439 8405
3446 8389 3448 8388 3451 8382 3450 8379
3451 8378
TIME...MOT...LOC 1647Z 246DEG 21KT 3435 8393
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.00 IN
MAX WIND GUST...40 MPHThe Atlanta radar (KFFC), 79 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:00 UTC.
7 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a person while playing golf on September 12, 2023. Unfortunately, the person passed away several days later. Very little media attention existed at the time of occurrence. A reporter from St. Louis was doing a follow-up story on this with the family and notified the appropriate NWS personnel months later.
Tree down at Narroway Church Cir and Abigail Way.
Trees and power lines in intersection of Due West Rd and Hwy 92.
Power lines and trees down in Roadway of Brooks Rackley Rd and Wildwood Way.
Quarter sized hail reported at intersection of Cedarcrest Rd and Dallas Acworth Hwy.
Quarter sized hail at the intersection of Fairwood Dr and Fairwood Ct.
Quarter inch hail at Mary Wallace Way and Royal Sunset Dr.
Quarter sized hail near Mars Hill Rd and Old Stilesboro Rd NW.
Gold Ball sized hail at Brookestone Country Club near Brookstone Dr NW and Burnt Hickory Rd NW.
Half Dollar-sized hail at intersection of Brookstone Dr NW and Mclain Rd.
Golf Ball size hail at Mars Hill Rd and Hadaway Rd.
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, Paulding | 2023-09-15 | 29 | Male | Golfing | Direct |
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, September 2023
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: 1155058, 1141900, 1141899, 1141901, 1141891, 1141892, 1141894, 1141895, 1141897, 1141896, 1141898.