EF1 Tornado — Chattooga, Georgia

2010-04-24 · near Cloudland, Chattooga, Georgia

Event narrative

A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Offices in both Huntsville, Alabama and Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that an EF1 tornado, which initially touched down in eastern DeKalb county Alabama approximately three miles southeast of Valley Head, Alabama, continued into Chattooga county Georgia, crossing into Georgia approximately two miles northwest of Cloudland in northwest Chattooga county. The tornado continued on a nearly 10 mile long path within Chattooga county ending approximately 2.5 miles northwest of Trion in north central Chattooga county. The tornado was rated an EF1 with a maximum path width of 300 yards and maximum wind gusts estimated to be 105 mph. Considerable damage was noted along the tornado path across far northwest and north central Chattooga county. At the touchdown point, at least 15 large trees were down across a one-half mile wide area. As the tornado continued eastward, it crossed Georgia Highway 157 at Gilreath Mill Road. Hunderds of large mature trees were down near the intersection. Just east of this location, the tornado strengthened to its maximum width and intensity. This was determined to be the mid-point of the tornado path, between Georgia Highway 337 and Harrisburg Road. Within this area, eight homes sustained significant damage. Two garages, one carport, and several private storage buildings were destroyed. At a small grass airport strip, one hanger was destroyed, another suffered extensive damage, and two airplanes were flipped over. One of the airplanes was an 800 lb ultralight and the other was a 1500 lb Cessna. Nearby, a home lost its roof, another suffered extensive shingle damage, and another storage building was destroyed. At the location of this destroyed outbuilding, two lawn mowers were moved 90 feet. From this point to the end of the tornado path, hundreds of large, mature oak, pecan, and pine trees were blown down or uprooted. Center Post Road, near the end point of the tornado path, was blocked because of numerous downed trees. Damage to homes, businesses, the airport, and timber land, along with cleanup, was estimated to be $1.2 million.

Wider weather episode

A classic tornadic spring storm system was moving from the southern plains toward the Midwest and Ohio Valley as an intense, negatively tilted upper low and associated deep surface low lifted northeast from the Arklatex region toward the Ohio Valley. The Storm Prediction Center had indicated a high risk of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes across western Tennessee, northern and central Alabama, and northern Mississippi. A moderate risk of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes was projected into north central and northwest Georgia as well. Deadly tornadoes had already occurred in northern Mississippi with this event. However, a weak wedge of cooler, most stable air remained in place across much of north and east Georgia thanks to persistent showers and thunderstorms during the morning hours of the 24th. A few of these morning and afternoon storms produced marginal severe hail. Toward midnight, a long lived supercell tracked across north Alabama and into northwest Georgia before finally diminishing across western Fannin county. This storm spawned several tornadoes along its path, including an EF1 tornado that tracked across the Alabama/Georgia border from DeKalb county in Alabama into Chattooga county, Georgia. Fortunately, this was the only tornado observed in Georgia with this major spring storm system.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.5474, -85.5183)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 224610. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.