Overview
- The FAA imposed a ground stop for inbound flights to Hartsfield-Jackson around 7:30 a.m. local time and lifted it shortly after 9 a.m.
- Severe weather prompted a brief evacuation of the airport control tower at about 8:45 a.m., with TRACON managing airspace until tower operations resumed near 8:55 a.m.
- FAA metrics showed delays surging from roughly 1,593 total minutes to more than 5,200, and the longest waits extending from just over an hour to beyond two hours.
- The National Weather Service issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for parts of metro Atlanta, and a squall line produced wind gusts up to 60 mph with hail possible and a low tornado risk.
- Forecasters expect flight disruptions to continue through the morning into early afternoon and improve by Wednesday, while the SPC maintained a Level 2 severe risk and a 5% tornado threat for parts of Mississippi and Alabama.