EF0 Tornado — Laurens, Georgia

2024-05-09 · near Westbrook, Laurens, Georgia

Event narrative

An EF0 tornado with maximum winds of 75 mph first touched down to

the NW of HWY 46 just inside the Laurens County line 46 where

EF0 tree damage was observed before turning to the southeast

through mostly rural and wooded areas along Alligator Creek before

crossing Dublin-McRae Hwy where it snapped a few trees. A TDS

briefly appeared on KJGX radar within the largely swamp/lowland

area. Per both radar and damage noted on the ground, the tornado

began to occlude as it shifted to a northeasterly path and

dissipate near the convergence of the Laurens/Dodge/Wheeler

county lines east of Hwy 46.

Wider weather episode

Several waves of severe thunderstorms moved through the area from the evening hours of the 8th through the early afternoon hours of the 9th. Initial convection ahead of the first line was able to tap into ample shear to produce tornadic thunderstorms in Northwest GA. This threat transitioned more into a wind event as the first line moved through the morning of the 9th. This line continued southward into the metro causing sporadic wind damage. Thunderstorms weakened as they moved south of I20, however another line of severe made its way out of AL/TN, producing further wind damage in the North. The initial line slowly moved into the southern portion of the CWA where conditions were not as worked over and shear was stronger. Storms re-strengthened, with several producing brief tornados.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.2267, -83.0107)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1186083. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.