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EF1 tornado in Montgomery County, Georgia

Tornado May 9, 2024 · Montgomery County, Georgia

EF1
Rating
14.7 mi
Whole path
250 yd
Path width

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Montgomery County → Toombs County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 250 yards (0.14 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

An EF1 tornado with maximum winds of 90mph touched down on

Thursday May 9, 2024 at 1:39PM EDT in an unpopulated area

northwest of Higgston GA along hwy 227 where a few trees were

downed along both sides of the hwy. The tornado tracked

southeastward through a mostly wooded unpopulated area before

reaching the community of Higgston. Trees were snapped along Saw

Mill Road to the west of Higgston. The tornado reached

EF1 intensity as it reached Hwy 15 and Azalea Dr where numerous

trees were snapped including several onto homes, outbuildings and

cars in that area. The tornado continued eastward along Hwy

280 snapping and uprooting trees crossing the Montgomery and

Toombs county line continuing to parallel Hwy 280 to the south.

The wider storm

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.

Began near Kibbee (32.2466, -82.5416).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

6 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1186086. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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