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EF2 tornado in Stewart County, Georgia

Tornado April 5, 2017 · Stewart County, Georgia

EF2
Rating
14.7 mi
Whole path
1,320 yd
Path width
$150K
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Stewart County → Webster County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,320 yards (0.75 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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 EF2 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 120 MPH and a maximum path width of 1320 yards touched down

near the Randolph-Stewart County line along US Highway 27 and quickly moved northeast into Stewart County. The tornado touched down in extreme northwest Randolph County at EF1 strength. The tornado then traveled across southeast Stewart County snapping or uprooting trees. About 5 miles west of Weston, but still in Stewart County, EF2 damage occurred from County Road 91 across County Road 148 to the Freeman Extension south of Goodwins Pond Road. A number of trees were uprooted while most were snapped at the trunk, including trunks with diameters as large as 2 feet. Two chicken houses were destroyed and two trailers suffered roof damage. One of the trailers was largely destroyed, but not moved from its foundation. The tornado weakened to EF1 and continued into Webster County. No injuries were reported. [04/05/17: Tornado #3, County #1/2, EF-2, Stewart, Webster, 2017:062].

The wider storm

Another strong short wave, the second in three days, rotated through a large and deep upper-level trough over the eastern U.S. A deep surface low and strong cold front moved through the state combining with moderate instability and strong low-level shear to produce another round of widespread severe weather across north and central Georgia, including several tornadoes.

Began near Tilley (31.9224, -84.7930).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 698329. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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