EF1 tornado in Jackson County, Georgia

A National Weather Service storm survey team found that an EF1 tornado with maximum winds of 90 MPH moved along a path with a maximum width of 100 yards for 2.3 miles across portions of Jackson County. The tornado began near a poultry supply store on Maysville Road just north of I-85 where it blew over 5, half-ton, unsecured poultry feed bins and downed several large tree branches. The tornado moved northeast paralleling the interstate. Two street signs were bent over along Ridgeway Church Road. The tornado path crossed over a large outlet mall where no apparent damage was noted, however the most severe damage occurred just past the mall where an automobile trailer sales business had two large overhead doors blown in and the front door to the business blown off. Several trailers were rolled about 50 feet and damage to the roof of the building was also noted at this location. The tornado then continued northeastward where it crossed into Banks County. [11/30/16: Tornado #6, County #1/2, EF1, Jackson, 2016:012].

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.