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F2 tornado in Cherokee County, Georgia

Tornado November 11, 2002 · Cherokee County, Georgia

F2
Rating
23.0 mi
Whole path
100 yd
Path width
13
Injuries
$7.6M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Cherokee County → Pickens County → Dawson County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

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 F2 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F2 meant considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted; the scale paired it with winds of 113–157 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A National Weather Service disaster survey team and the Cherokee county Emergency Manager Director observed a 6-mile long path of damage, beginning near Beasley Gap in northwest Cherokee county, then continuing east-northeast toward the town of Worley Crossroads on the Pickens county border. While much of the damage along the path was determined as straight line wind damage with speeds of at least 70 mph, there was definite indication of a multi-segmented tornado. The most significant tornado damage occurred on Salacoa Road near Beasley Gap, where the tornado damage was classified as F2. The damage path was approximately 627 yards wide at its widest point, but the tornadic portion of this damage was limited to around 100 yards wide. Two homes were completely destroyed, three were severely damaged, and six were moderately damaged. Numerous trees and power lines were down along and near the damage path as well. Some livestock was also killed during the event. Cherokee county was one of five counties declared in a state of emergency by the governor.

Began near Waleska (34.3500, -84.5833).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F2 Bartow CountyF0 Monroe CountyF0 Bibb County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5321965. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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