EF0 Tornado — Burke, Georgia

2024-09-26 · near Vidette, Burke, Georgia

Event narrative

A brief tornado touched down just east of Vidette, GA on 9/26/24.

This was in association with the initial outer bands of Hurricane

Helene. The tornado is radar/EM confirmed as the widespread

damage to trees and infrastructure in Burke County, GA made it

impossible to survey this tornado after the fact. The tornado

produced tree and power line damage along its path before lifting

just north of State Route 305.

Wider weather episode

Tropical Storm Helene formed in the NW Caribbean Sea on September 24. Helene moved northward into the Gulf of Mexico where it strengthened into a hurricane on September 25. During the day on September 26, Helene remained off the coast of Florida and an upper low over the southeast US led to strong moisture transport and strong forcing over the area. Heavy rain rates and training bands led to flash flooding developing. Increasing shear associated with the hurricane also led to the development of several tornadoes in heavy rain bands.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.0368, -82.2431)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1207221. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.