EF1 Tornado — Quitman, Georgia

2023-06-14 · near Hatcher, Quitman, Georgia

Event narrative

A tornado touched down near the Clay-Quitman county line, causing minor tree damage. The tornado continued northeast and crossed Beachom Road in Quitman county. The most significant tree damage was seen in this location with numerous trees uprooted or snapped. The tornado continued northeastward through inaccessible areas before crossing Lower Morris Road and dissipating just south of US Highway 82. Special thanks to WTVM-TV meteorologist Dana Barker for providing photos and a detailed description of the damage path for this survey.

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 → (31.7663, -85.0031)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1114041. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.