EF0 tornado in Catoosa County, Georgia

A brief EF0 tornado with maximum winds of 85 MPH moved along a path with a maximum width of 225 yards for 1.29 miles across portions of Catoosa County. The tornado began as several trees were uprooted or snapped just east of Ooltewah-Ringgold Road between Sleepy Lane and Mountain Lane. The tornado traveled east northeast over White Oak Mountain continuing to cause damage to trees before ending just east of Cherokee Valley Road around Swallow Lane where several homes sustained damage. One home had its garage doors blown in and part of the garage roof lifted off. Debris from this roof was carried more than 500 yards away. Siding was pulled off of another home in this area. [11/30/16: Tornado #1, County #1/1, EF0, Catoosa, 2016:007].

A strong cold front associated with a deep and sharp upper-level trough swept through the state accompanied by a line of thunderstorms. Despite only marginal instability; ample deep-layer shear and a strong low-level jet resulted in several reports of damaging winds and tornadoes with these thunderstorms. The early morning hours tornado that occurred in Catoosa County was actually associated with a supercell. The other tornadoes were associated with a Quasi-Linear Convective System (QLCS) during the late morning/afternoon hours of the 30th.