EF1 Tornado — Baker, Georgia

2023-06-14 · near Elmodel, Baker, Georgia

Event narrative

A short lived tornado was captured by storm chaser video as it crossed farmland in northern Baker County, GA north of Clear Lake Road. The tornado flipped an irrigation pivot as it touched down and then snapped and uprooted several trees along its path before lifting west of Halls Pond. Damage associated with this tornado is consistent with EF-1 damage with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph.

Wider weather episode

The middle part of June was unusually stormy across the area. Numerous rounds of strong to severe storms impacted the region with multiple squall lines that produced severe winds as well as supercells that produced large hail and tornadoes. Heavy rain also occurred over a multi-day period, which saturated the ground and led to some instances of flash flooding.

The synoptic pattern featured well above average 250 mb zonal wind anomalies, which were traceable back to an active subtropical jet stream. Greater than average instability was also present, in part due to anomalously warm Gulf of Mexico SSTs. This combination of above average shear from the active subtropical jet and above average instability from the warmer than average SSTs provided a synoptic environment favorable for severe weather as upper level shortwaves moving through the area. This pattern persisted for many days, leading to an unusually large amount of severe weather.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.3970, -84.4220)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1114013. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.