Radar Reflectivity: March 1, 2017 Severe Weather Event

March 1, 2017 Severe Weather Event

Strong linear storms, sparked by an incoming cold front, swept across most of the eastern united states. There was also strong forcing along the impending cold front, as shown in figure 1. Due to the very warm temperatures prior to the cold front with steep mid-level lapse rates and some wind shear, that encouraged the storms to become severe. However, the Georgia area had enough instability for convective development which gave way to the watches and warnings which were issued throughout the day from 11:50 AM to about 9:00 PM, as you can see in figure 2. Strong winds downed many trees and power lines, leaving roughly 32,000 people without power. Meanwhile, further north, the great smoky mountains national park, straddling Tennessee and North Carolina, closed all roads due to the high wind danger. Many reports of hail were also recorded and even one brief tornado in northern Georgia. The QLCS (quasi-linear convective system) tornado had 90 MPH winds, the EF-1 tornado touched down near Chatsworth, GA, tracking three miles west of Chatsworth. As you can see in figure 3, the cell to the northeast of the red point (Chatsworth, GA) seems to be the one from which produced a tornado. Unfortunately, the closest radar, KHTC in Hunstville/Hytop, AL, was down due to the power outages thus the next closest radar was used, KFFC in Atlanta, GA. The NWS (national weather service), from KFFC, provided figure 4 which shows the storm when it produced the EF-1 tornado over Chatsworth, GA at about 4:30 PM. This system also produced up to golfball sized hail and peeled back roofs. However, as the system continued to move southeast into central Georgia, the storms weakened substantially. Nonetheless, before dying out, this system produced roughly five dozen tornadoes, over 600 high wind reports, and over 100 large hail reports as it tore through parts of the Midwest, South and East United Stated from February 28 to March 1, 2017, making it the largest severe weather outbreak since late spring 2011.

Figure 1

Figure 2

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Figure 4