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EF1 tornado in Whitfield County, Georgia

Tornado May 24, 2017 · Whitfield County, Georgia

EF1
Rating
1.6 mi
Path length
200 yd
Path width
$20K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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 EF1 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 90 MPH and a maximum path width of 200 yards touched down northeast of Dalton west of Highway 71 (Cleveland Highway), snapping and uprooting several trees between 3rd Street and West Hill View Drive as it moved to the northeast. The tornado continued northeast and produced the most significant damage along the south end of Lynn Drive where numerous large trees were snapped or uprooted in a 200 yard wide path. A camper was also rolled about 20 yards away from its original location near Lynn Drive. Several more trees were found snapped near

Creekwood Lane Northeast just before the tornado lifted. No injuries were reported. [05/24/17: Tornado #1, County #1/1, EF-1, Whitfield, 2017:075].

The wider storm

Another strong short wave and surface cold front, associated with the large and deep upper-level trough over the central U.S., swept through the region bringing more scattered severe thunderstorms and isolated tornadoes to north and central Georgia.

Began near Gordon Spgs (34.8186, -84.9512).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF1 Toombs CountyEF0 Gordon CountyEF0 Gordon CountyEF0 Gilmer CountyEF0 Fannin CountyEF0 Laurens County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 704139. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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