EF2 Tornado — Rockdale, Georgia

2024-04-02 · near Camp Smyrna, Rockdale, Georgia

Event narrative

An EF2 with max winds of 110-115 touched down near the 3200 block of Klondike Rd southwest of Conyers and traveled east-northeast downing thousands of trees, some landing on homes, businesses, and vehicles. Max intensity was reached near the intersection of Mcdaniel Road near Briarwood Circle, where 2/3 of a roof of a well built home was torn off. The tornado again reached EF1 intensity as it crossed North Main St NW, ParkCir, College Ave, Milstead Ave, McCalla St NE and Woodland Rd. The storm continued NE as an EF0.

Wider weather episode

A Quasi-Linear Convective System moved through the area through the night of the 2nd into the morning of the 3rd. Convection across West Central GA was weaker with limited to no severe activity due to weaker CAPE values, however shear and helicity were plentiful. Convection in the early morning hours was able to organize into several messy supercells ahead of the line, as they tapped into a region of more ample CAPE and steep mid-level lapse rates. Several tornado warnings were issued with three confirmed tornados including a strong EF2 tornado in Rockdale County between Pine Mountain and Conyers.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.6554, -84.0903)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1175093. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.