Six brief tornadoes whirled through several southern metro Atlanta counties and Middle Georgia during Monday’s severe storms, the National Weather Service confirmed.
Nature bore the brunt of the metro area’s damage, with trees and branches coming down along the twisters’ narrow paths through Carroll, Coweta, Fayette and Henry counties. Further south, in Peach, Bibb and Houston counties, about a hundred homes and vehicles were damaged and a few people were trapped by falling trees, but no injuries were reported, the Weather Service said.
The storms, which blew in from the west, moved fast and arrived at the day’s peak heat, which made them especially volatile. Multiple tornado warnings popped up and quickly expired as the system rolled through.
The worst of the storms reached metro Atlanta around noon and the first tornado spun up in Carroll at about 12:10 p.m. The twister was categorized as an EF-0, the lowest rating possible with maximum wind speeds of 75 mph, the NWS said. It touched the ground just west of U.S. 27, causing uprooted trees to fall on homes as it moved east-northeast for about 5 miles.
The second twister spun up in Newnan just after 12:30 p.m. It initially hit along Lower Fayetteville Road just east of I-85 before continuing northeast.
Channel 2 Action News chief meteorologist Brad Nitz noted it on the radar, and a few minutes later, it was shown whirling toward Fayette.
The twister was also categorized as an EF-0, the NWS said. It snapped multiple trees as it spun down a path that was 5 miles long and 250 yards wide.
At 12:52 p.m., another EF-0 moved through Fayetteville along Williamsburg Way just east of Glynn Street, the Weather Service reported. It whirled along a narrow quarter-mile path that was just 50 yards long with wind speeds of 70 mph. There was no apparent damage to structures, but it downed a few trees and limbs.
The fourth tornado, an EF-1, was spotted on radar near I-75 and Jodeco Road in Henry shortly after 1 p.m., according to the Weather Service. Its wind speeds were estimated to have reached 90 mph as it moved east for 6.5 miles before crossing the interstate and toppling about 40 trees along Brannan Road.
About an hour later, there was another small tornado outbreak in Middle Georgia. One twister, another EF-0, quickly developed around 2:11 p.m. in northern Peach County near Choctaw Lane, just northeast of I-75, the NWS reported. It traveled 7 miles along a path that was 150 yards wide as it downed a few pecan trees with its 75 mph winds before it spun into more heavily forested swampland along the south side of the Echeconnee River into Houston and Bibb counties.
Just a couple of minutes later, at 2:13 p.m., another tornado spun up in Centerville near Watson Boulevard in Houston County. The EF-0 traveled quickly along a 3.5-mile path. It downed trees on scores of homes and vehicles, according to the Weather Service.
Strong wind gusts unrelated to twisters also caused several trees to fall across the metro region and thousands were left without power.
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