The National Weather Service confirmed Friday that the severe storms that ripped through north Georgia on Thursday included a tornado in Lumpkin County.
The tornado, which had top wind speed of 105 mph, traveled over four miles and lasted for seven minutes, says Ryan Willis of the weather service. No serious injuries were reported and 17 homes were reported damaged.
Metro Atlanta escaped most of the wind damage that was reported elsewhere in northwest Georgia, but overnight storms kept firefighters busy battling multiple lightning-sparked house fires.
Gwinnett County fire Capt. Tommy Rutledge said no injuries were reported when a lightning strike set fire to a home on Oak Hampton Way near Duluth just before 9:30 p.m. Thursday or a second fire that broke out about an hour later on Greenside Court near Dacula.
Fire investigators were also trying to determine if a blaze that broke out on Emerald Parkway in the Sugar Hill area of Duluth as the last round of rain moved through Gwinnett around 5 a.m. was also sparked by lightning.
In Cobb County, lightning damaged a home Thursday night on Sweat Creek Run, in a neighborhood off Sandy Plains Road.
There were scattered reports of trees down early Friday, including one that blocked Azalea Drive in Roswell and another blocking Middlesex Avenue in northeast Atlanta.
The National Weather Service also reported scattered straight-line wind damage in Polk, Chattooga, Whitfield, Murray and Walker counties, while the roof was blown off a business in Rome.
Hail up to 2.5 inches in diameter was also reported in several north Georgia counties.
Rainfall amounts from the overnight storms ranged from just under an inch to about 1.5 inches. Atlanta’s official rain gauge at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport recorded 1.46 inches of rain.
The overnight rain did little to help Atlanta’s sky-high pollen counts. Friday’s count was 7,804 particles per meter of air, down only slightly from Thursday’s count of 8,024.
Weather Service radar showed that most of the storms and rain had moved well east of metro Atlanta by 6 a.m. Friday.
Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Karen Minton said skies will clear later in the day, leaving dry conditions for most of the weekend.
Friday afternoon will be sunny but windy, with highs in the upper 60s, Minton said.
The sunny skies will continue through Saturday, but clouds will increase Sunday afternoon, and there’s a chance of showers by Sunday evening, according to Minton.
Weekend highs will be in the low 70s, with lows in the mid-40s to low 50s.
The Associated Press and staff photographer John Spink contributed to this article.
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