EF0 tornado in Butts County, Georgia

A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast office in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that a second, weaker EF0 tornado touched down within the same quasi-linear convective system that spawned the EF2 tornado in Gwinnett county. This tornado originated in extreme western Butts county approximately four miles southwest of Jenkinsburg, crossed very briefly into extreme eastern Henry county, before crossing back into extreme western Butts county and then lifting immediately thereafter. The tornado had a total path length of 2.5 miles, mostly in Butts county. The maximum path width was determined to be 50 yards with maximum wind gusts estimated at 80 mph. Within Butts county four homes were damaged and at least 200 trees were blown down or uprooted along the path of the tornado. Several outbuildings were damaged or destroyed, including six storage buildings blown across U.S. Highway 23.

A deep full-latitude upper trough was sweeping from the central into the eastern U.S. The trough brought a quick transition to the eastern U.S. from mild fall temperatures to an extended period of well below normal temperatures. As the trough swept through the southeastern U.S. on November 30th, it took on a significant negative tilt. Although only marginal instability was noted because of extensive pre-frontal cloud cover and light to moderate rain showers, a strong 50-60kt low-level jet accompanied the trough as it rotated through Georgia during the afternoon of November 30th. This was sufficient combined with minimal instability (CAPE) in place at the time to support the development of a fairly well marked, yet very narrow, quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) which spawned two tornadoes, one an EF2 causing extensive damage to homes in Gwinnett county, and another weaker tornado in Henry county. In addition, the squall line or QLCS also produced numerous damaging wind events across north and central Georgia.