Atlanta Hail

Provided and Copyright by: Thomas Faber, Atlanta Astronomy Club
Summary Author and Editor: Thomas Faber

On March 15, 2008, the day after a F2 tornado ripped across downtown Atlanta, numerous other supercell thunderstorms swept over Georgia causing two fatalities and considerable damage. These storms produced tremendous amounts of hail. One storm pounded the northern suburbs of Atlanta with a hail downpour that lasted about five minutes. Most of the hail stones were about half an inch (1 cm) or less in diameter but, as shown above, a few were much larger and irregularly shaped. I’m holding a hail stone approximately 2 inches (5 cm). Note that the surface is littered with hail.