EF1 tornado in Jasper County, Georgia

A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City confirmed that yet a second EF1 tornado touched down in Jasper county, just a little less than an hour before the first one. This tornado tracked across northern Jasper county, touching down approximately nine miles west-northwest of Shady Dale and ending about two miles northwest of Shady Dale. The tornado was estimated to have a maximum path width of 1/4 mile with estimated winds of 100 mph. Damage began along Shepard Road in northwest Jasper county and continued to near Tucker Town Road, two miles northwest of Shady Dale. Major damage was observed to a small cottage in the northeast part of the county, with minor damage observed to five other homes along the path of the tornado. More than 100 trees were down along the path of the tornado. This tornado developed from the same thunderstorm that just prior had spawned a tornado in southern Newton county.

A strong cold front accompanied and deep negatively tilted upper trough through the eastern U.S. from the 18th into the 19th. An unseasonably warm and unstable air mass developed in advance of the cold front during the late afternoon and early evening across north and central Georgia as warm, moist air rode northward into Georgia on a strong low-level jet. Afternoon temperatures in the 70s and dewpoints in the 60s, combined with strong shear and moderate instability, resulted in the development of numerous supercell thunderstorms from mid-afternoon until a few hours after midnight on the 19th. Ten tornadoes, ranging in scale from EF0 to EF3 tracked across several north and central Georgia counties. The worst tornadoes affected the east central Georgia counties of Jasper, Putnam, Hancock, and Jasper. A death was observed in Hancock county with an EF3 tornado and several injuries were reported from Putnam and Hancock counties. In addition to the tornadoes, very large hail occurred with several of the thunderstorms, including four-inch diameter hail in Coweta and Fayette counties just south of Atlanta. Numerous reports of golf ball and larger-sized hail were received. The event resulted in millions of dollars of damage and the destruction of several homes in north and central Georgia counties.