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F1 tornado in Early County, Georgia

Tornado December 24, 2002 · Early County, Georgia

Rating

33.0 mi

Whole path

150 yd

Path width

Injuries

$2.8M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Henry County, Alabama → Early County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 150 yards (0.09 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F1 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F1 meant moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken; the scale paired it with winds of 73–112 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

The tornado crossed the state line from Henry County Alabama into Early County Georgia. Its damage path extended from the Chattahoochee River northeast through Colomokee on U.S. Highway 27. The tornado destroyed one mobile home and damaged thirty others. Two persons were injured when their mobile home collapsed on them. Numerous trees and power lines were down. A state of emergency was declared. Reported by GEMA.

Began near Blakely (31.4333, -85.0833).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5325957. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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