January 31st, 2013 at 7:51 am by markmonstrola under Weather
The cold front that passed through Central Texas Tuesday night, and gave a few of our communities a number of garden variety thunderstorms, caused havoc through the Mid-Atlantic and East Coast yesterday, and last night. The storm prediction center has a slew of tornado, wind damage, and hail reports from the passing system.
The town of Adairsville, located near Atlanta, Georgia, was decimated by the storm:
| 1619 | ADAIRSVILLE | BARTOW | GA | 3437 | 8493 | MAJOR DAMAGE REPORTED IN DOWNTOWN ADAIRSVILLE. REPORTS OF CARS OVERTURNED AND MAJOR STRUCTURE DAMAGE(FFC) | |
| 1620 | ADAIRSVILLE | BARTOW | GA | 3437 | 8493 | *** 1 FATAL *** MAN KILLED IN MOBILE HOME NEAR ADAIRSVILLE.EMERGENCY MANAGER CONFIRMS THAT APPROXIMATELY 100 CARS OVERTURNED NEAR EXIT 306 ON INTERSTATE 75.(FFC) |
Photo of damage in Adairsville,GA after the storm
Here is a full recap, and the radar loop from yesterday’s storm courtesy of weather.com:
An unusual, widespread January severe thunderstorm outbreak began on Tuesday morning, Jan. 29, 2013 and has delivered a swath of damaging winds and some tornadoes from the Southern Plains to the lower/middle-Mississippi Valleys, Ohio Valley, Tennessee Valley and Northeast over a 48-hour period.
Severe Outbreak Radar History
Radar loop from Jan. 29, 2013 (6am EST) through Jan. 31, 2013 (6am EST).
Severe Reports Tally (as of morning of Jan. 31)
- 13 confirmed tornadoes in 8 states
- 676 high wind/wind damage reports
- 13 reports of large hail
The damage reports are plotted on the interactive map above. Click each report to read about the damage.
Here are some of the notable reports:
- An EF2 tornado touched down in the pre-dawn hours in Mt. Juliet, Tenn., with estimated winds of 115 mph. Heavy damage was observed at the ballpark. The tornado’s path length was 4.6 miles.
- A tornado flipped numerous cars and leveled homes in Adairsville, Ga. This same supercell thunderstorm then damaged multiple structures near Calhoun, Ga. Roughly 100 vehicles were flipped as the tornado crossed I-75 near Calhoun. Survey teams from the National Weather Service will investigate these areas Thursday.
Sadly, there was one fatality from the Adairsville, Ga. tornado, ending what had been a record tornado death-free streak in the U.S. of 219 consecutive days, since the last U.S. tornado death on June 24, 2012.
The old U.S. record streak was 197 straight days without a tornado fatality, ending on Feb. 28, 1987, according to Severe Weather Expert, Dr. Greg Forbes.
Damaging non-thunderstorm winds then swept into the Northeast during the early morning hours of Jan. 31, 2013. Gusts to 81 mph were measured in southern New England, including 60-65 mph gusts at both New York-LaGuardia and Boston-Logan Int’l Airports. At least 215,000 were without power in the Northeast.
