Holy Crap!! Tornado hits Georgia Dome during SEC basketball tournament game.

[Elwood P Dowd]

Game now stopped. There are tears in the roof. Will get more info.

[JohnnyLib2]

1. Everyone is okay. The sports broadcasters indicate that game

will resume. Good job by officials of preventing panic.

Creeeeeepy moment on TV.

[malaise]

2. Damn!

Glad everyone is OK.

They're talking about it on Weather Channel

add.

[JohnnyLib2]

3. NBC was broadcasting, probably by region.

There were shots of items moving near the dome (inside), people beginning to move, some light debris. Teams were removed, etc.

Looks like things are okay. No report by sports guys about conditions outside in Atlanta.

[Berry Cool]

4. Yeesh, that's lucky.

What a thing to happen.

[LiberalFighter]

5. Are they going to say that God wasn't happy about who was winning?

[alfredo]

6. That was scary. They are saying it was a severe thunderstorm.

http://www.wsbtv.com/index.html

I think it is still not determined if it was a tornado, but the crowd heard the characteristic freight train roar.

Al

Lexington Ky newsman called the NWS and they said it was a possible tornado.

[Aviation Pro]

7. All tornadoes are spawned from severe thunderstorms....

....

[alfredo]

9. True. They weren't sure if it was straight line wind or twisting wind that

did the damage. The NWS said it was a possible tornado. Inspectors will come and make a final determination. It's much easier to tell in daylight.

[Aviation Pro]

11. Straight line would make it a microburst....

...let me check the radar and surface analysis chart and take a guess.

[alfredo]

14. I think now they are saying it was a tornado. Several people injured.

[aquart]

16. Only "several"?

Oh my, I guess we call that lucky.

[alfredo]

17. Thousands were inside the Atlanta Dome. It could have been worse.

[aquart]

18. So much worse. I get chills thinking of it.

Especially because, we need to realize, it will happen. It just wasn't today, thank God.

[alfredo]

20. Looks like it's starting all over again today

[Aviation Pro]

13. My guess is microburst...

....typical fast moving cold front bringing in continental polar air with maritime tropical air from the Gulf. No dryline or bend in the surface front and veering winds from the south with the westerly jet stream winds at 300 mb indicate a straight pattern fast moving squall line. Here's the surface chart:



Here's a link to the 300 mb constant pressure chart:

http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/fax/QHUA15.TIF

Finally, here's the latest METAR weather reports from Atlanta Hartsfield which shows a drop in pressure and thunderstorm activity but only moderate:


KATL 150252Z 06005KT 10SM -TSRA FEW025CB BKN045 BKN090 BKN200 17/13 A2975 RMK AO2 TSE10B40RAB52 SLP070 FRQ LTGICCG TS W-NW MOV SE P0000 60000 T01670133 51013
KATL 150240Z 00000KT 10SM TS FEW025CB BKN045 BKN060 BKN200 17/13 A2975 RMK AO2 TSE10B40 FRQ LTGICCG TS VC NW MOV SE
KATL 150210Z 33008KT 10SM SCT014 BKN050 BKN070 BKN250 17/14 A2975 RMK AO2 TSE10 FRQ LTG DSNT NE-E TS MOV SE
KATL 150152Z 22005KT 10SM TS FEW025CB SCT060 BKN075 BKN250 16/14 A2974 RMK AO2 TSB36 SLP067 FRQ LTGICCGCA TS VC N-NE MOV SE T01560139
KATL 150136Z 19007KT 10SM TS FEW025CB SCT090 BKN250 16/14 A2972 RMK AO2 TSB36 CONS LTGICCGCA TS VC NW-N-NE MOV SE

I'd say that it's probably a dry microburst.

[alfredo]

15. They should be able to determine by the damage if it was a microburst

or tornado. CNN is reporting that it was a tornado.

[civildisoBDence]

8. My brother lives near there...I'm fifty miles east, but am hearing thunder as I write

Probably need to unplug this laptop before it fries my, uh, lap.

[Elwood P Dowd]

10. They're saying damage at CNN, Convention Center, and other areas.

Game to start back in a few minutes. Looks like the Kentucky game will not end until well after 1:00 PM EDT.

[tuckessee]

12. Miss State - 'Bama match is set to resume.

Has about 2 minutes game time left. Teams were finishing their warm-ups a few minutes ago.

750 WSB (?) AM is there with good coverage. Based in Atlanta, they also do the UGA games.

[aquart]

19. I'm impressed.

And suddenly I remember sitting in a bar with some friends waiting for the World Series to start. Except the picture on the TV was shaking. Earthquake. So we waited for the shaking to subside. And then my friends waited some more. They confidently expected the World Series would not be stopped by a mere earthquake. It fell to the ladies in the group to tell them the terrible truth.