EF0 Tornado — Peach, Georgia

2017-01-21 · near Lakeview, Peach, Georgia

Event narrative

A National Weather Service survey team found that the tornado that began in southeast Peach County and briefly crossed into a small portion of western Houston County, once again moved into a small portion of Peach County along Mossy Creek between I-75 and U.S. Highway 41. The tornado moved east for less than a mile before moving back into Houston County along U.S Highway 41. This tornado was rated EF0 along this portion of its path with maximum wind speeds of 80 MPH and mainly downed trees and power lines, however one tree did fall on and damage a nursing home along Highway 41. The tornado would eventually travel over 13 miles across portions of Peach and Houston Counties. [01/21/17: Tornado #12, County #3/4, EF0, Peach-Houston-Peach-Houston, 2017:013].

Wider weather episode

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.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.5257, -83.7335)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 673696. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.