Doppler radar - The Atlanta Tornado March 14 2008

An EF-2 tornado moved east-southeast across downtown Atlanta, Georgia. It was the first known tornado ever to hit the downtown area. The funnel passed just north of the Georgia Dome, where an NCAA tournament basketball game was in overtime. Had it not gone into overtime, the streets would have been filled with the 18,000 fans. No announcement was made inside the dome. The building shook and the roof was damaged. The 6-mile-long path caused millions of dollars in damage, with one death and 30 injuries. Eight days after the tornado, the body of a 45-year-old man was found dead under a foot of bricks as rubble was being cleared at a collapsed wall in a parking lot.

Although conditions were less than optimum for tornadoes or severe thunderstorms, an isolated supercell developed just northwest of the city of Atlanta on the evening of March 14, 2008. This storm intensified as it moved into the city and produced a tornado that caused damage along a path 6 miles long that stretched from west of the World Congress Center to western DeKalb County south of Interstate 20. This storm struck at 938 pm EDT during an NCAA basketball game between the University of Alabama and Mississippi State University that was being played in the Georgia Dome. The tornado's path was just barely north of the Dome. Had this game not gone into overtime, thousands of attendees would have been in the streets headed for their vehicles or public transportation. The toll of dead and injured might have been much larger. This tornado was rated EF2 by a storm survey team from the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, GA. Maximum winds were estimated to be 130 MPH.

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