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EF1 tornado in Bacon County, Georgia

Tornado December 2, 2009 · Bacon County, Georgia

EF1
Rating
0.7 mi
Path length
100 yd
Path width
$3.0M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 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

A weak tornado touched down briefly in an open field and tracked northeast, striking a set of chicken houses. Damage was estimated at nearly $3 million to the chicken houses. The structure was primarily made of wood and tin, and amount of damage, mainly to roof of one section, and total collapse of a 2-story section, suggests EF1 damage. Significant damage to trees was also noted along track.

The wider storm

Strong mid and upper low initially over Texas was moving east-northeast while the upper level trough it was embedded in became negatively tilted. This led to a broad diffluent pattern over most of the southeastern states. As the system approached the right rear quadrant of upper jet moved into the forecast area coincident with a low-level jet of, at least, 60 knots. This created atmospheric dynamics favorable for severe weather, with the only limiting factor being modest instability. A warm front over the area during the morning moved rapidly north in response to increasing southerly flow allowing a gradual increase in low level instability. By afternoon several severe weather events and three tornadoes occurred over portions of southeast Georgia.

Began near Sessoms Station (31.6230, -82.5810).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 199120. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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