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EF1 tornado in Stewart County, Georgia

Tornado January 2, 2017 · Stewart County, Georgia

EF1

Rating

0.6 mi

Path length

200 yd

Path width

$60K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 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

The Stewart County Emergency Manager along with state Emergency Management officials found a path of damage associated with a brief EF-1 tornado in far southern Stewart County using ground and aerial surveys. The tornado touched down south of Sardis Road destroying a good portion of 2 commercial chicken houses off of Freeman Road. The Tornado traveled just over a half mile to the northeast toppling a large irrigation sprinkler system and snapping or uprooting several large trees before lifting just south of Sardis Road. Maximum wind speed was estimated at 95 MPH and the maximum path width was 200 yards. [01/02/17: Tornado #1, County #1/1, EF1, Stewart, 2017:001].

The wider storm

A strong mid-level short wave swept across the southeastern U.S. during the afternoon and overnight interacting with an unseasonably warm and moderately unstable atmosphere across central Georgia. Widespread thunderstorms resulted in scattered reports of damaging winds and an isolated tornado. High rainfall amounts also produced isolated flash flooding.

Began near Barges (31.9536, -84.6755).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 669406. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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