Prepare Your Property for Spring Weather

Spring Weather Terms & How to Prepare Your Property from Storm Damage

It is officially spring season in Georgia and spring weather has already made an impact on homeowners and business owners. As the colder air moves out and temperatures rise, the atmosphere changes and storms begin to brew. We want to help you prepare for this season with these tips and common spring weather terms you may hear on future weather reports.

How to Prepare Your Home or Business for Spring Weather:

Call your insurance and make sure your policy is up to date, including any changes you have made to your home.
Make sure your contents policy is enough to cover all your belongings.
Take photos and inventory of your belongings, inside and outside the home. Store this on a cloud drive like Google Drive.
Consider installing impact resistant garage doors as they are typically the first exterior structure to fail.
Look for loose or failing components of your home or business and repair them.
Check your roof and secure any loose shingles.
Identify any cracks or holes outside your home and fill them with caulk to stop water from leaking in.
Save our number in your phone (770-720-9533) if your experience storm damage to your home.

Severe Thunderstorm Watch & Severe Thunderstorm Warning

Severe thunderstorms can produce damaging winds up to 58 mph, hail that’s ¾ inches in diameter or larger, and can sometimes turn into a tornado. If you hear the weather channel issue a severe thunderstorm watch, it means the weather conditions are likely to produce a severe thunderstorm. A severe thunderstorm warning means the storm has been forecasted to occur or is occurring. Pay attention to where the storm is expected to happen and what direction it is moving. Severe thunderstorms can cause light to heavy storm damage that may require cleanup or restoration.

Funnel Cloud

Funnel clouds extend from cumulonimbus clouds in a rotating column but do not reach the ground. Once a funnel cloud reaches the ground, it will turn into a tornado. While this may not have an impact on your home, it could be a sign that a tornado may develop and storm damage could occur.

Tornado Watch & Tornado Warning

Weather channels will send out a “Tornado Warning” or “Tornado Watch”. A Tornado Watch means current weather conditions in a wide area could create a tornado. A Tornado Warning means a tornado has been spotted and you need to take cover immediately. Tornadoes in Georgia are hard to see because they are usually wrapped in rain and hail. Some tornados can be quick, but others can last up to 20 minutes and produce wind speeds up to 300 mph. In April 2020, Georgia had a “Tornado Outbreak” of 21 tornadoes over one weekend alone.

Hail & Hailstorms

Hail usually comes with violent thunderstorms and tornadoes. It is a form of precipitation that turns into solid ice inside thunderstorm updrafts. Depending on the size, hail can cause storm damage to your roof and can be a safety hazard to people. Hail can range from pea size to grapefruit, with the largest hail ever recorded in the US being 8 inches in diameter.

Weather reporters will use these terms below to describe the size of hail in diameter:

Pea: 1/4 inch
Mothball: 1/2 inch
Penny = 3/4 inch
Nickel = 7/8 inch
Quarter = 1 inch *hail that’s 1 inch in size or larger is severe
Ping pong ball = 1 1/2 inch
Golf ball = 1 3/4 inches
Tennis ball = 2 1/2 inches
Baseball = 2 3/4 inches
Teacup = 3 inches
Softball = 4 inches
Grapefruit = 4 1/2 inches

Flash Flood Warning & Watch

When heavy rainfall is expected to happen quickly, especially within 6 hours, weather reports will release a flash flood watch or warning to alert the public of possible floods. Flash flood warnings are usually non-life threatening but can cause damage to your property especially if you are in a flood zone. Streets, storm drains and low areas near bodies of water could fill up quickly, causing issues for homes and business nearby.