Georgia saw its first severe weather of 2009 on Wednesday evening, with reports of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms causing one death and multiple injuries. It appears that most of the damage was recorded south of Atlanta, and along the Georgia-Florida border.

Preliminary storm reports showed an EF0 tornado in Warner Robins, an EF4 tornado in Washington, in Wilkes county, which traveled 16 miles and moved a two ton truck 60 feet, an EF1 tornado in Eatonton causing one injury, additional reports of EF1 tornadoes in Jasper and Newton counties, an EF2 tornado near Moreland in Coweta County, and an EF3 tornado near Sparta in Hancock County, which caused the fatality as its 140 MPH winds traveled an eight mile path.

Here is the preliminary report from the Weather Service as of late this afternoon:

TAYLOR COUNTY…THE TORNADO BEGAN NEAR TOMMY PRUVIS ROAD AND SB EUBANKS DRIVE AT 545 PM. THE INTERMITTENT TOUCHDOWNS WAS 3 TO 4 MILES LONG AND 50 TO 100 FEET WIDE. SEVERAL TREES BLOWN DOWN…A MOBILE HOME DAMAGED AND ONE BLOWN OFF ITS FOUNDATION. IT WAS RATED AS AN EF0 WITH WIND AROUND 70 MPH.

JASPER COUNTY…THE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN WAS AT 800 PM… APPROXIMATELY 7 MILES IN LENGTH…STARTING 9 MILES WNW OF SHADY DALE TO 2 WNW OF SHADY DALE…LIFTING ABOUT 810 PM. IT WAS RATED A WEAK EF1 WITH WIND ESTIMATED AT 100MPH. MINOR DAMAGE WAS REPORTED TO FIVE HOMES AND MAJOR DAMAGE TO A SMALL COTTAGE.

COWETA COUNTY…THE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN AT 923 BRADBERRY ROAD…APPROXIMATELY THREE MILES WEST OF HIGHWAY 27. THE STORM CONTINUED TO THE EAST-NORTHEAST ABOUT SEVEN MILES ACROSS SOUTHERN COWETA COUNTY…AND 1 MILE WIDE AT THE WIDEST POINT. THE TIME OF THE TOUCHDOWN WAS 830 PM… AND RATED AS AN EF2. AT LEAST A DOZEN HOMES DAMAGED ..SOME SUBSTANTIAL.

PUTNAM COUNTY…THE STARTING POINT WAS 7 WSW OF EATONTON AROUND 715 PM AND EXTENDED ABOUT 7 MILES IN LENGTH AND ONE QUARTER MILE WIDE. THE EF2 TORNADO UPROOTED NUMEROUS TREES…DOWNED POWER LINES CLOSED U.S. HIGHWAY 129…AND AT LEAST ONE PERSON INJURED FROM DEBRIS AS THE STORM WENT FROM WILLARD TO EASTONTON AND BRIEFLY TRAPPING OTHERS IN THE HOME OR CAR. A RESTAURANT COMPLETELY DESTROYED…AND SEVERAL HOMES SUSTAINED MODERATE TO MAJOR DAMAGE.

WILKES COUNTY…THE STORM REACHED THE WESTERN PART OF THE COMMUNITY OF TYRONE…NEAR HIGHWAY 44 AT 710 PM AND EXTENDED FOR 16 MILES IN LENGTH AND ONE HALF MILE WIDE. THE STORM WAS RATED AN EF4 WITH DEBRIS FROM THE DEMOLISHED HOME BEING CARRIED AT LEAST ONE HALF MILE. THERE WERE FIVE OTHER BUILDINGS RECEIVING MINOR TO MODERATE DAMAGE…AND A CHICKEN HOUSE WAS DESTROYED AS WELL.

There were also numerous hail reports, with golf ball size hail reported in Walton County, and 1.75 inch hail in Henry, Coweta and Clayton Counties.

For the next few days, it’s going to be colder than normal, with highs only around 50 degrees and lows below freezing at least until Wednesday. This is likely to balance out an already warmer than normal February. As of yesterday, Hartsfield airport’s mean temperature was 2.7 degree above normal. At this time of year, our normal high should be 58 degrees, with lows around 38. However after this cold spell passes, the outlook is for warmer than usual temperatures through the first week in March.

Long range, the outlook for March issued today by the Weather Service says we should see equal chances of above or below normal temperatures and below normal rainfall, and for March through May the trend of variable temperatures and drier weather holds as well.

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This afternoon’s thunderstorms were responsible for hail, damaging winds and even a few tornadoes to Georgia, but on the upside, they brought needed rain as well.  In advance of an approaching cold front, the storms fired up from west to east, with the worst of the storms affecting the Atlanta area between 5 and 6 PM.

Looking at the Georgia storm reports,  there were reports of damaging winds bringing down power lines and trees in west Georgia, tornado spottings in southwest Georgia and quarter inch hail.  In metro Atlanta, some minor flooding was reported in Tucker, and there were tornado warnings issued for Fulton and Gwinnett counties based on radar soundings, however no tornadoes were reported in the metro area.

The storm did bring some needed rain to the area.  As of 7:30 PM, here are some reported rain amounts:

Alpharetta: 1.18 inches
Johns Creek: 1.18 inches
Dunwoody: 1.21 inches
Gainesville: 1.17 inches
Lawrenceville:  0.77 inches
Dahlonega: 0.98 inches
Jonesboro: 0.36 inches
Dallas: 1.01 inches

The good news is that the heaviest rains occurred on the north side of the metro area, and should add to the runoff into lakes Lanier and Allatoona. With the cold front pushing in, any additional rainfall tonight will be light.  And, with more rain predicted for the end of the week, we might be able to make a dent in the slow refilling of the lakes.

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It looks like much of Gwinnett and Atlanta is getting needed rainfall this evening, as a relatively unexpected storm system moved in. Here in South Gwinnett, I’ve recorded .91 inches of rain. During the most intense parts of the storm, I saw quarter-sized hail, and for a period of about 20 minutes, hail ranging from the size of Kix cereal to the size of a jellybean fell.

This system is a bit unusual, in that it moved from northeast to southwest, the opposite of most systems. In a bit of a reverse of the fairly common cold air damming, a cold pool of air in the upper atmosphere came south, and ran into the warmer, moist air from the southwest that was already in place, causing the storms and hail. Typically, storms move from west to east, following the prevailing wind patterns.

The cold pool will be south of us tomorrow, reducing the chance of rain. However, it looks like we are in a fairly normal summer pattern, which is good news for the drought. If we get an inch or rain like this every week, even though there will be a deficit, the excessively dry conditions will be a thing of the past.

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The massive cool down predicted for the weekend, with temperatures anywhere between 20 and 30 degrees cooler than they have been, has set up a high possibility of thunderstorms, hail, and possible tornadoes for Friday afternoon, and into early Saturday morning.

In an early morning severe weather outlook, the Storm Prediction Center predicted the greatest likelihood of severe storms in most of Alabama and western Georgia, stretching north through Tennessee and Kentucky.

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Shortly after I got to Sugarloaf Country Club and the BellSouth Classic at 10:00 this morning, an unexpected round of sleet and snow passed over the course. Walking along the 12th fairway, conditions deteriorated rapidly, as rain and sleet began to fall.

Fortunately, a corporate hospitality “Sky Box” was at the 10th green, and its owners were kind enough to let the few spectators in the area in for the duration of the storm, which was about 20 minutes. The whole thing caused about an hour and a half delay of the tournament, although conditions improved (if 55 degrees and 30 MPH winds can be called an improvement).

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