Home / Georgia / Sumter

F1 tornado in Sumter County, Georgia

Tornado September 29, 1998 · Sumter County, Georgia

Rating

0.2 mi

Path length

50 yd

Path width

Injuries

$200K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

NOAA recorded where this tornado touched down but not where it lifted, so it appears as a point. 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

Low topped convection caused an apparent tornado in the Railroad Street area of DeSoto. Newspaper reports and sight survey by an NWS employee indicated at least 1 permanent structure home and 7 mobile homes were destroyed. Other homes were damaged by some of the hundreds of trees that fell. Several businesses were also damaged.

Began near Desoto (31.9500, -84.0700).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F1 Sumter County F0 Sumter County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5664634. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.