A Combined NEXRAD and CG Lightning Examination of the Atlanta Tornado
Trostel, John M. , Matthews, Jenny L. , Coyle, Colleen , Demetriades, Nicholas W.

On the evening of March 14, 2008, an EF2 tornado swept through the downtown area of Atlanta Georgia. This event was unusual in that it directly impacted the downtown area of a major metropolitan area. The effects of the tornado were immediately broadcast nationwide as the NCAA playoffs were being held in the Georgia Dome which lay just south of the path of the storm. The storm continued through the heart of downtown Atlanta, causing major damage and resulting in one fatality.

In this presentation, we will examine the NEXRAD radar data and correlate the features and lifecycle of the storm with the Cloud to Ground (CG) lightning data obtained from the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN). Lightning characteristics such as flash rate, peak current, polarity, and flash multiplicity will be examined for this cell as well as for a second, non-tornadic cell which passed slightly south of Atlanta later that evening.