Story at a glance
- A confirmed tornado touched down in Atlanta as more threatened surrounding states.
- The cold front bringing the storms is tracking north and northeast.
A tornado watch was issued for parts of Georgia and Alabama on Monday as the National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed a tornado touchdown near Atlanta.
This is now a CONFIRMED tornado. Please take shelter if you are in the path of this storm. https://t.co/lTuq5Lxwwg
— NWS Atlanta (@NWSAtlanta) May 3, 2021
A severe thunderstorm warning is in effect from Monday into Tuesday evening, with strong to isolated severe storms expected for the remainder of the day.
Tuesday is likely to see similar conditions brought on by a frontal system, primarily from the afternoon to overnight.
Between the two days, damaging winds greater than 60 miles per hour are likely to be recorded, along with large hail, isolated tornadoes, heavy rainfall and frequent lightning.
Dozens of counties have been placed under tornado watches and thunderstorm warnings in Georgia, including Elbert, Columbia, Monroe, Putnam; Jasper, DeKalb, Fayette, Cartow, Wilkes, Taylor, Taliaferro, Muscogee, and more. In Atlanta alone, about 450,000 people are in the potential path of the tornado, CNN reports.
In Alabama, multiple counties including Clarke, Perry, Pickens, Wilcox, Tuscaloosa, Talladega, Sumter, Shelby, Lee, Lamar, Jefferson, Cherokee and Dale remain under a severe thunderstorm warning until Monday night at 8 p.m. CDT.
The NWS expects the front to track north towards the southeastern U.S., impacting states like South Carolina and North Carolina by Monday evening.
By Tuesday, meteorologists predict that the same cold front will also split and move north toward the Ohio and Middle-Lower Mississippi valleys. Strong wind speeds are expected to be seen, along with thunderstorm activity that may include hail and possible tornadoes. Along rivers, flash flooding could occur.
States under an enhanced risk of severe weather for Tuesday include central and eastern Louisiana, Mississippi, north and central Alabama, south central Tennessee and far north Georgia.
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