Savannah: Severe storms, strong winds hit the area

Oct 01, 2023

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Severe thunderstorms slammed a large part of southeast Georgia and the Lowcountry Tuesday evening. Tuesday was a WJCL 22 Impact Weather Day.

The storms first hit Montgomery and Toombs counties shortly before 6pm. The winds downed a tree in northern Toombs County that is shown above.

The storm gained strengthen and slammed parts of Evans, Bulloch, Candler, and Tattnall counties with winds of 50-65mph. The storms reached the I-95 corridor around sunset and continued their push towards the coast.

Savannah saw winds top 50mph at Hunter Army Airfield and at the Savannah-Hilton Head airport. The highest gust was in Metter and also on Tybee Island.

Check out the fierce winds as they hit Claxton in Evans County. Wow!

Severe winds hit Claxton, GA

Dozens of storm reports have been posted across our area. Downed trees and powerlines are the most common report. At one point there were around 20,000 customers without power in our area.

The damaging storms were fueled by high heat and humidity. The heat index, or feels like temperature, surged to 117° on Hilton Head Island. In Savannah a steamy 112°.

The heat eases a bit on Wednesday, and so do rain chances. The next chance of strong storms looks to be Friday along with another round of triple digit feels like temperatures.

For the latest weather information and the area's certified most accurate forecast watch WJCL 22 News or check the free WJCL 22 News App. You can get weather updates anytime on social media...follow me on Twitter here or on Facebook here.

Jeremy Nelson

WJCL 22 Chief Meteorologist