Home / Georgia / Sumter

EF0 tornado in Sumter County, Georgia

Tornado May 23, 2017 · Sumter County, Georgia

EF0

Rating

10.6 mi

Whole path

100 yd

Path width

$50K

Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 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

An National Weather Service survey team found that an EF0 tornado with a maximum path width of 100 yards and maximum winds of 74 MPH crossed into Sumter County from Lee County east of Highway 377 in a marshy area moving northeast. The tornado crossed RW Jones Road where 2 houses sustained minor roof damage. Further northeast, trees were downed along Wilson Battle Road and Brady Road before the tornado ended near Bone Road. No injuries were reported. [05/23/17: Tornado #1, County #2/2, EF-0, Lee, Sumter, 2017:072].

The wider storm

A surface cold front and mid-level short wave associated with a large, deep upper-level trough over the central U.S. swept through the region. Moderate instability combined with strong deep-layer shear to produce scattered severe thunderstorms and isolated tornadoes across north and central Georgia. Deep, rich moisture resulted in very heavy rainfall as well, producing isolated reports of flash flooding.

Began near Sumter (31.9144, -84.1807).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF1 Crisp County EF1 Wilcox County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 704008. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.