EF1 Tornado — Bacon, Georgia

2023-01-22 · near Rockingham, Bacon, Georgia

Event narrative

A tornado touched down NE of Alma GA near the Bennett Still Highway in Bacon County. The tornado tracked NE about 3.5 miles and crossed the Dedge Farm Road and Mallard Road. The tornado track then shifted more east to northeast and passed Whip-Poor-Will Way and crossed Oak Hill Church Road. It then weakened as it crossed the Big Satilla Creek and traveled into Appling County. Areas of large trees, snapped at the base and uprooted, were observed along the entire damage path. There was moderate structure damage near the Bacon and Appling county line which included a trailer tipped over onto an adjacent vehicle at Cardinal Road. There was also a collapsed barn roof on Red Oak Road. Peak winds were estimated at 104 mph with this tornado documented as an EF1.

Wider weather episode

A warm front lifted northward across SE GA during the morning and placed the entire forecast area within the warm sector ahead of an approaching pre-frontal squall line. Strong SSW speed shear was over the area with 0-6 km bulk shear 50-60 kts across SE GA to 40-50 kts southward across NE FL. Warm and unstable conditions pushed northward to near Waycross into the afternoon with ML CAPE 1000-1500 J/kg as the pre-frontal convection approached into the late afternoon and early evening. Strong to severe storms moved across the local area during the late afternoon and early evening producing wind damage and a couple of tornadoes in SE GA.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.5711, -82.4294)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1068693. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.