EF1 Tornado — Glascock, Georgia

2009-02-18 · near Mitchell, Glascock, Georgia

Event narrative

A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that the EF3 tornado that first touched down in Hancock county, causing extensive damage in the Hickory Grove Community as well as killing one and injuring three, continued across extreme southern Warren and into extreme northwest Glascock counties before lifting. The tornado remained a weaker EF1 with a maximum path width of 100 yards as it crossed from Warren into Glascock county. The tornado traveled a total distance of nearly 11 miles, but less than two miles within Glascock county. Within Glascock county, the tornado tracked across a very rural area. Thus, damage was confined to around a hundred downed trees.

Wider weather episode

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.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.2600, -82.7400)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 154545. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.