EF1 Tornado — Hancock, Georgia

2017-01-21 · near Friendship, Hancock, Georgia

Event narrative

A National Weather Service survey team found that an EF1 tornado with maximum winds of 95 MPH and a maximum path width of 70 yards began in Hancock County just northeast of Deepstep Road, which is the Hancock/Baldwin County line. The tornado moved northeast parallel to Deepstep Road for less than a quarter of a mile before it turned east and crossed the road into Baldwin County. Several trees were blown down along this portion of the path. The total path length in both counties was around a half mile. [01/21/17: Tornado #18, County #1/2, EF1, Hancock-Baldwin, 2017:019].

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 → (33.0525, -83.0967)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 673724. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.