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EF1 tornado in Laurens County, Georgia

Tornado April 19, 2015 · Laurens County, Georgia

EF1

Rating

11.6 mi

Path length

300 yd

Path width

$75K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A NWS survey team determined that an EF-1 tornado with maximum winds of 95 MPH touched down near West Alcorn Farm Road then traveled northeast 11.57 miles before ending near Walke Dairy Road. Along the path of this tornado 200-300 trees were downed, metal roofs were blown off a barn and storage shed, and approximately 40 trees were blown onto the eastbound lanes of I-16. [04/19/15: Tornado #3, County #1-1, EF1, Laurens, 2015:007].

The wider storm

A strong short wave and moderate instability combined to produce widespread thunderstorms across north and central Georgia throughout the daytime on the 19th into the early morning hours of the 20th. Scattered severe thunderstorms with damaging winds occurred across the area. A warm front lifting north across central Georgia during the late morning and early afternoon provided sufficient wind shear to produce several short-lived tornadoes.

Began near Alcorns (32.4060, -83.1281).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF1 Russell County EF1 Sumter County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 574723. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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