EF0 Tornado — Liberty, Georgia

2016-02-03 · near Camp Stewart, Liberty, Georgia

Event narrative

The National Weather Service in Charleston, South Carolina confirmed an EF-1 tornado at Fort Stewart in Liberty County Georgia with winds approximately 105 to 110 mph. The tornado began near gate 7 of the Fort Stewart base complex, likely as an EF-0, before moving northeast at approximately 35 mph through the center of the base and ending near Highway 144.

Much of the damage throughout the base was EF-0 to high end EF-1 strength. The most significant damage started at Taylors Creek Golf Course, then stretched east-northeast through a small neighborhood to Diamond Elementary School. Several large pine trees were uprooted and/or snapped throughout the golf course and neighborhood area. Approximately 6 to 10 homes were heavily damaged in this neighborhood due to large pine trees falling on them. One home had nearly 75 percent of the roof removed, but the roof was not strapped down to the walls which kept the tornado strength to a high end EF-1 rating. Three cars were also rolled over or moved approximately 20 feet in the parking lot of Diamond Elementary School. The school had roof damage on one corner of the gymnasium. As the tornado continued to move northeast, it snapped many trees and downed power lines along Hero Road near Eisenhower Village. After this point, the tornado continued northeast into a heavily wooded area with sporadic snapped trees and downed limbs until lifting near Highway 144. The tornado lasted approximately 10 to 12 minutes before dissipating at Highway 144.

Total damage reported along the path of the tornado included approximately 42 homes, 150 to 200 vehicles and 8 unit facilities within or near the Fort Stewart area. Total damage cost was estimated to be 5.08 million dollars.

Wider weather episode

A cluster of low-topped supercell thunderstorms developed within a high shear/low CAPE environment ahead of a QLCS advancing into southeast Georgia. One storm in particular produced a high end EF-1 tornado with significant damage to homes and property across Fort Stewart, GA.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.8717, -81.6247)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 614874. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.