EF2 tornado in Houston County, Georgia

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 before once again moving into a small portion of Peach County, moved back into Houston County along U.S Highway 41. The tornado intensified to an EF2 along this portion of its path with maximum wind speeds of 115 MPH. The tornado tracked east along Sandefur Road causing significant damage to trees and power lines with minor roof damage to homes south of Sandefur Road along Griswold Way. The tornado turned more northeasterly damaging a sports complex and a business along Cohen Walker Road. The tornado crossed Highway 96 near Peach Blossom Road and continued northeast through neighborhoods west of Bonanza Drive causing minor roof damage and downing trees and power lines as it continued across Faegan Mill Road and Moody Drive. At this point the tornado intensified to its strongest level. Brick fences were blown down and numerous trees were snapped or uprooted along Sandy Run Road and Echo Lane. The worst damage occurred near the WalMart and adjacent neighborhoods around Windmill Court. Two large HVAC units were tossed around 50 yards from the top of the WalMart. The auto bay garage doors on the back of the store were blown in and the roof lifted. Rafters on the opposite end of the store were twisted. Along Windmill Court and Hidden Creek Circle one house had most if its roof blown off and windows and doors blown in. Across the street, another home had a garage door and windows blown in and parts of its roof blown off. The tornado continued northeast and struck a mobile home park along Maxwell Drive and Sherry Lane where more than a dozen mobile homes were damaged. One mobile home was nearly completely destroyed. The tornado ended in this area. This tornado ultimately travelled over 13 miles across portions of Peach and Houston Counties. [01/21/17: Tornado #12, County #4/4, EF2, Peach-Houston-Peach-Houston, 2017:013].

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.