EF1 Tornado — Cherokee, Georgia

2009-04-19 · near Woodstock, Cherokee, Georgia

Event narrative

A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that an EF1 tornado touched down in far southeast Cherokee county near the Cobb county line in the Woodstock area. The tornado touched down near the intersection of Georgia Highway 92 and Dial Drive, then continued north-northeast along Dial Drive crossing a large section of Coleman's Bluff. The tornado lifted just south of the intersection of Windcrest Court and River Chase Drive. The total path length of the tornado was 1.5 miles with a maximum path width of 1/2 mile or 880 yards. Maximum winds were estimated to be 90 mph. EF1 tornado damage to trees and structures was observed along a 3/4 mile-long path paralleling Dial Drive beginning just north of its intersection with Georgia Highway 92. Damage was observed to 120 homes along the path of the tornado, 12 of which were completely destroyed. The majority of the damage took place in the Coleman's Bluff area. Most of the damage was the result of large trees falling on the structures. Two residents of the affected homes were injured by debris.

Wider weather episode

Yet another deep upper trough was translating across the south central and southeast United States accompanied by a strong Pacific cold front. Although instability was marginal for the time of year, the upper atmosphere was highly sheared with a strong low-level jet. Showers and a few thunderstorms moved across the area during the day, but it was during the late evening hours when the front moved into the area from the west that strong to severe thunderstorms developed across eastern Alabama and moved into western Georgia. The activity took on the form of a squall line with distinct bowing segments. Two EF1 tornadoes were spawned within this line of thunderstorms causing considerable damage to homes and businesses in the Columbus and Woodstock areas. The activity quickly dissipated shortly after midnight as it moved further east into central and northeast Georgia.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.0825, -84.4559)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 167123. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.