The path of the tiny tornado that caused damage in some South Suburban Atlanta neighborhoods Tuesday afternoon is shown in green on the map above.

The Tornado Warning was issued just 3 minutes after the first spin-up and the baby twister fizzled out just 3 minutes later.

It lasted a total of just 6 minutes while traveling 3 miles at a width of 100 yards (about the length of a football field) at one point winds peaked at 75mph. For comparison a “severe thunderstorm” typically has winds of about 60-70mph or more.

This kind of “spin-up” tornado is like a stronger version of a “gustnado”. They are weaker cousins to the traditional supercell tornado most people think of when they hear the term tornado or twister.

This type is not formed by huge tall powerful rotating supercell thunderstorms, but instead form along a squall line or what is known in the business as a QLCS (quasi linear convective system) aka squall line. When segments of a squall line "bow out" or bend and twist there is sometimes enough convergence (coming together) of winds to cause enough rotation to briefly "spin-up" a tiny tornado.

In the cool seasons squall lines tend to be weaker than in the Spring or Summer, in fact like on Tuesday, there was very little thunder and lightning despite the heavy rain and gusty winds because there was not enough heat energy to build the clouds high up in the atmosphere. This type of thunderstorm is called “low-topped” because the storm cells despite some rotating are short or low in the atmosphere, and don’t actually generate much lightning and usually no hail at all.

Examples of “Bow and hook echoes” on radar from a QLCS squall line: