F3 tornado — Miller County, Georgia

F3 tornado in Miller County, Georgia

Tornado March 22, 2005 · Miller County, Georgia

Rating

18.0 mi

Whole path

1,250 yd

Path width

Death

Injuries

$7.0M

Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,250 yards (0.71 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F3 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F3 meant severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned; the scale paired it with winds of 158–206 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, which crossed from Seminole County into Miller County, quickly intensified as it paralleled Highway 91. It damaged nearly 100 homes and destroyed 25 others along its path. It struck a 120+ acre farm on Nobles Road, destroying several storage buildings, welding shop, farrowing house and implement shed, and heavily damaging the family residence. Several irrigation pivots were damaged or destroyed. Many trees and power lines were down. Ten people were injured, two of those critically. The tornado weakened as it approached County Road 45. It continued its northeastward trek across County Road 310 and U.S. Highway 27, then dissipated about three miles southeast of Colquitt. The storm survey was conducted by the NWS Tallahassee WCM and SOO.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5439905. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

F3 tornado in Miller County, Georgia

What the National Weather Service wrote

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