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F1 tornado in Spalding County, Georgia

Tornado April 3, 1998 · Spalding County, Georgia

Rating

6.0 mi

Whole path

150 yd

Path width

Injury

$500K

Damage as recorded

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

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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 Spalding county EMA reported 30 homes suffered minor to heavy damage. One on North Walkers Mill Road was completely destroyed. In the Amelia Road area, homes sustained moderate damage with one shifted off its foundation. Light to moderate damage was in the Gainer Road area. The path length and width were estimated, but the storm apparently only touched down intermittently along the track.

Began near Griffin (33.2800, -84.2200).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5639289. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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