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EF0 tornado in Monroe County, Georgia

Tornado January 21, 2017 · Monroe County, Georgia

EF0
Rating
8.8 mi
Path length
250 yd
Path width
$15K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 250 yards (0.14 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF0 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF0 is light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 65–85 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 National Weather Service survey team found that an EF0 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 80 MPH and a maximum path width of 250 yards began in southern Monroe County near the intersection of Zebulon Road and Shi Road. The tornado moved north-northeast crossing Hill Road, King Road, U.S Highway 41, Boling Broke Road, I-75, Rumble Road and Deer Creek Road before ending along Jenkins Road south of Lake Juliette after travelling around 9 miles. Mainly tree and power line damage was reported with this tornado. [01/21/17: Tornado #11, County #1/1, EF0, Monroe, 2017:012].

The wider storm

Throughout the weekend of the 21st and 22nd, persistent southwesterly upper-level flow brought a series of strong short waves across the region. The atmosphere over central Georgia was unseasonably warm and unstable with strong low and mid-level shear. The first short wave generated a wave of severe thunderstorms across central and south Georgia through the morning and into the afternoon of the 21st that produced numerous tornadoes. Twenty three tornadoes were confirmed in the WFO Peachtree City warning area with 27 total tornadoes confirmed in the state of Georgia, both records for the number of tornadoes in a single day. A second, stronger short wave swept through during the late morning and afternoon of the 22nd bringing another round of severe weather to central and south Georgia. Additional tornadoes confirmed brought the 2-day total to 27 for the WFO Peachtree City warning area and 41 for the state of Georgia, both a record number for a 2 day period.

Began near Spring Hill (32.9113, -83.8972).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 673686. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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