2007 Annual Report

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CWA. Only two noteworthy
winter events affected north
Georgia, one in mid-January
and another in early February
resulting in minor ice
accumulations in several
northeast Georgia counties and
several inches of snow in the
northeast Georgia mountains.

The year ended, as it has for
the past two years, with a
December tornado outbreak
resulting in three tornadoes in
the far southeast part of the
CWA. Overall, 383 severe
convective events were
recorded during the year (Continued on page 3) Lans P. Rothfusz
Meteorologist in Charge W hen people think
of devastating
weather, the
sudden, violent phenomena such as tornadoes
usually come to mind. The
most impactful weather,
however, is not always that obvious. Extreme drought and
high heat can be considered
just as devastating as the
tornadoes that sometimes rake
across Georgia.

2007 brought both kinds of
devastation the sudden and
the stealthy to the County
Warning Area (CWA) of the
Peachtree City NWS office. Despite our best
warning efforts,
the tornadoes of
March 1 and
April 15 claimed
three lives and
c a u s e d 3 3
injuries. The
heat of the
summer claimed
two lives and the
c o n t i n u i n g
drought has
caused incred- ible economic hardship on our
state.

Through it all, we in the
Peachtree City NWS are striving
to minimize the impact of the
sudden and the stealthy
weather hazards in our area.
This Shareholders Report
describes several ways we are
doing that. Even if you just
scan through this report, I
suspect you will be pleased with
the efforts your talented and
dedicated NWS employees are
putting forth. I know I am.
These are special people doing
special things for the public
good. With your continued
support, perhaps someday we
can eliminate the deadly
impacts of both the sudden and
the stealthy weather hazards.
Enjoy the report! 2007 Weather Devastation: Sudden and Stealthy Severe Weather Summary for 2007 Robert Beasley
Meteorologist I f there is any silver lining to
the Southeast U.S. drought
of 2007, it would be an
overall dearth of severe w e a t h e r , w i t h d i s t i n c t
exceptions noted. Two major
tornado outbreaks occurred,
one on March 1 st and another on April 15 th . August, usually marking a decrease in summer
severe convection, proved to be
the most active ever for
Peachtree City County Warning
Area (CWA) with 91 severe
convective events. May,
typically the most active severe
weather month, saw only 14
severe convective events, the lowest number ever recorded
during that month for the CWA.
August severe weather was
likely a result of the extreme
heat observed during the
month.

The March and April tornado
outbreaks were among the
most significant seen in years.
However, the remainder of the
spring was eerily quiet . By the
end of December, the CWA had
not recorded a flash flood event
in 19 months! Just as in 2006,
tropical activity was at a
minimum with the remnants of
hurricane Humberto on
September 14 th the only tropical system to impact the February 2008 Volume 7, Issue 1 Shareholders Report 2007 Inside this issue: Georgia Weather Overview 4 Warning Performance 6 Public Forecast Performance 7 Forecast Programs 7 Forecast Programs 8-9 Training & Technology 10 Hydrology 11 Web & Systems 12 Coop Program 15 Top 25 Weather Events 2 In Fiscal Year 2007, Congress appropriated $884,393,000 to the NWS, which equates to an investment of $2.94 per U.S. citizen. This Shareholders Report provides an accounting of what your NWS office in Peachtree City is doing with that investment. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office Peachtree City, Georgia Sumter Regional Hospital devastated by March 1st tornado. Big News Items of 2007 The Drought (p. 11) March 1st Tornadoes (p. 13) Storm-based Warnings (p. 14) Impressive Outreach (p. 14) Shareholders Report 2007 Page 2 Date County Cause Damage Deaths Injuries Cost 1 1-Mar Sumter Tornado (EF3) Tornado tracked 32 miles through the county. Up to one mile wide. Portion
of Sumter Regional Hospital in Americus destroyed. Hundreds of homes
and businesses destroyed or significantly damaged. Two deaths in
Americus when a wall collapsed. 2 8 110M 2 August North and Central Georgia Excessive Heat Temperatures reached levels in excess of 100 on a number of days.
Atlanta woman found dead in her home. Rome man found dead in a
camper trailer. 2 0 0 3 1-Mar Taylor Tornado (EF2) Two mobile homes destroyed. Others damaged. One death and four injuries in these mobile homes. 1 4 500K 4 25-Jun Forsyth Lightning A 27-year-old male construction worker was struck and killed by lightning. 1 0 0 5 26-Aug Fulton Lightning A 15-year-old male was struck and killed by lightning. 1 0 0 6 1-Mar Crawford Tornado (EF3) Several homes and outbuildings were heavily damaged or destroyed along Sandy Point Road. 0 9 500K 7 1-Mar Webster Tornado (EF3) A path of significant damage occurred in southeast portion of the county.
Concrete block house and two machine shops near Chambliss destroyed.
Three injuries resulted from these incidents. On a nearby farm, five cows
killed by tornado. Tractor trailer overturned causing it to catch fire and
burn. Georgia Public Television transmission tower destroyed. 0 3 1M 8 1-Mar Warren Tornado (EF2) Significant damage to Briarwood Academy. A number of homes, mostly
double-wide mobile homes, sustained significant or complete damage. 3
people injured from flying glass and debris. 0 3 700K 9 15-Apr Laurens Tornado (EF2) Two tied-down, double-wide mobile homes completely destroyed, resulting
in three injuries. Several other mobile homes and one site-built home
sustained damage from falling trees. 0 3 400K 10 3-Mar Barrow Strong Wind Strong winds developed behind strong low pressure system. 0 3 150K 11 15-Apr Dodge Tornado (EF1) Greenhouse and announcer's booth at Eastman High School football field
destroyed. Two unsecured mobile homes destroyed. A couple were injured
when a home destroyed. One home was destroyed when a large tree
crashed through it. Numerous trees fell on homes. 0 2 350K 12 1-Mar Muscogee Tornado (EF2) Several homes in northwest Columbus suffered heavy damage with at least
one injury. Several commercial buildings sustained damage or were
destroyed. Hundreds of trees and power lines were blown down, some of
which fell on cars. 0 1 28M 13 4-Apr Hall Thunderstorm Wind Microburst winds up to 110 mph damaged at least 35 homes. One home
destroyed. Man injured when a locked door blew open and hit him. 0 1 1M 14 9-Jul Fayette Lightning Moderate damage to two homes. One person injured by lightning. 0 1 250K 15 23-Aug DeKalb Lightning Home set on fire and one person injured by lightning. 0 1 150K 16 24-Aug Jackson Lightning Home set on fire and one person injured by lightning. 0 1 100K 17 4-Apr Heard Thunderstorm Wind Up to 20 trees snapped off near U.S. Hwy 27 and West Ferry Road.
Recreational vehicle blown over causing injury to a woman inside. 0 1 50K 18 19-Jun Fulton Thunderstorm Wind Several trees were blown down around the city. One person was injured
when a tree fell on their car. 0 1 25K 19 19-Jul Fulton Lightning A 29-year-old male was struck by lightning while doing construction work. 0 1 0 20 4/7/07- 4/9/07 North & Central GA Frost/Freeze A late freeze caused significant damage to crops. 0 0 160M 21 12-Jun DeKalb Hail (2.50 in) Hail up to the size of tennis balls was reported. 0 0 4.5M 22 12-Jun Gwinnett Hail (1.75 in) Hail up the size of golf balls was reported. 0 0 2.1M 23 12-Jun Rockdale Hail (1.75 in) Hail up to the size of golf balls was reported. 0 0 1.6M 24 12-Jun Henry Hail (1.75 in) Hail up to the size of golf balls was reported. 0 0 1.5M 25 12-Jun Henry Hail (1.75 in) Hail up to the size of golf balls was reported. 0 0 1.5M Top 25 North and Central Georgia Weather Events for 2007 contributing to $143M in
estimated damages, $113M of
which was a result of the
d ev as t a t i ng M a rc h /Ap r il
tornadoes. The number of
events (383) was on par with
that observed in 2006 (378)
and not far below the 12-year
WFO FFC CWA average of 428.
However, the $143M in
property damages marked a
sharp increase over the $32M
of 2006. Summer was the only
season with above normal
convective activity, while the (Continued from page 1) spring and fall periods fell far
short of normal. August was
quite active with 91 events, well
above the normal 41. The
seasonal breakdown and 12-
year normals for severe
convective events are as
follows: January March (58 /6 0), April June
(162/229), July September
(157/114), October- December
(6/28).

28 tornadoes affecting 35
counties were confirmed within
the CWA during 2007, tying the
all-time record set in 2005, well
above the 11-year average of
12. For the second consecutive
year, none of the tornadoes
were associated with land-
falling tropical storms or
hurricanes. The tornadoes (Continued on page 5) Severe Weather 2007 Page 3 Volume 7, Issue 1 Home destroyed in Sandy Point, GA (Crawford County) by EF3 tornado. Nine injuries occurred with this tornado. Event Deaths Injuries Tornado 3 33 T-storm Wind 0 3 Hail 0 0 Lightning 2 5 Flash Flood 0 0 Heat 2 0 2007 Deaths and Injuries Le ngth Wi dth (mi ) (y ds) 5-Jan Coweta 5 SSW Sargent to 2 ESE Sargent F1 6 200 0 0 250K 5-Jan Coweta 2 SSW Senoia to 0.5 SSE Senoia F0 1.5 200 0 0 45K 7-Jan Coweta 8.25 SW Newnan to 5 SSW Newnan F2 4 200 0 0 350K 1-Mar Stewart 0.5 SW Richland to 1 NE Richland EF1 1.5 250 0 0 400K 1-Mar Taylor 3 SW Potterville to 2 E Reynolds EF2 8 448 1 4 500K 1-Mar Crawford & Bibb 4 E Knoxville to 1 ESE Lizella EF3 9 448 0 9 525K 1-Mar Crawford 4.5 SSE Horns to 10.8 E Knoxville EF1 12 100 0 0 100K 1-Mar Bibb 6.5 W Payne to 7.5 WNW Macon EF0 2.5 100 0 0 100K 1-Mar Jones 3 NW Griswoldville to 2 SW James EF1 4 150 0 0 500K 1-Mar Muscogee 1 WSW Green Island Hills to 3 W Midland EF2 9 300 0 1 28M 1-Mar Jones 3 SSE Haddock EF0 0.05 50 0 0 5K 1-Mar Talbot 7.5 W Talbotton to 4 WNW Talbotton EF1 4 100 0 0 50K 1-Mar Warren 4 ENE Warrenton to 3 SE Mesena EF2 2.5 448 0 3 700K 1-Mar Webster, Sumter, & Macon 5.7 SE Weston to 5 SSW Oglethorpe EF3 40 1760 2 11 2.1M 1-Mar Bleckley 2 NNE Cary to 3 NE Cary EF0 1 448 0 0 250K 1-Mar Wilkinson 4.5 WSW Nickelsville to 9 NE Nickelsville EF2 4.5 880 0 0 30K 1-Mar Marion 3 NNE Oakland to 5 NE Oakland EF1 2.5 100 0 0 25K 15-Apr Dodge 1 W Eastman to 4 NNE Eastman EF1 4.5 100 0 2 350K 15-Apr Laurens 8.5 SSW Dublin to 5.5 SSE Dublin EF2 6 200 0 3 400K 15-Apr Laurens 4 NNE Cedar Grove to 1.5 NNE Lowery EF0 6 50 0 0 50K 15-Apr Emanuel 1 SSE Orland to 5 W Norristown Junction EF1 10 440 0 0 710K 15-Apr Laurens & Johnson 5 SE Dublin to 5 SW Kite EF1 19 100 0 0 275K 15-Apr Emanuel 2 SE Twin City to 5 NE Twin City EF2 5 200 0 0 250K 15-Apr Crisp 5.5 W Arabi to 3 NE Arabi EF1 7.5 200 0 0 80K 15-Apr Dodge 1 S Eastman to 3.5 E Eastman EF2 4.5 200 0 0 500K 15-Dec Wilcox 2 W Owensboro to 1.5 WNW Owensboro EF1 0.5 100 0 0 5K 15-Dec Dodge 5.0 ENE Jay Bird Spgs 5.5 ENE Jay Bird Spgs EF0 0.5 25 0 0 25K 15-Dec Treutlen 1 SW Lothair to to 2.5 NE Lothair EF2 3.5 200 0 0 100K Tornadoes in Peachtree City NWS Forecast Area in 2007

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