EF3 Tornado — Camden, Georgia

2018-12-02 · near St Marys Arpt, Camden, Georgia

Event narrative

National Weather Service Jacksonville Storm Survey

revealed damage consistent with EF-3 tornado damage at Naval

Submarine Base Kings Bay, which was confirmed by a 125 knot / 144

mph maximum wind gust measurement from a docked Coast Guard

vessel. This is the strongest tornado in recent memory within the

National Weather Service Jacksonville's area of responsibility in

southeast Georgia, northeast and north central Florida. Four

injuries were reported by officials at Naval Submarine Base Kings

Bay. The tornado continued on an east-northeast path across

Cumberland Island, beginning from Old House Creek and exiting into

the Atlantic waters just south of the Stafford Beach Campground.

The tornado path across Cumberland Island was estimated by

Cumberland Island National Seashore park rangers to be

approximately one-third to one half mile wide. Significant tree

damage occurred within the tornado path across Cumberland Island,

with no structural damage reported. The main park road and several

trails on Cumberland Island were left impassable by the tree

damage.

Wider weather episode

A lifting warm front, very saturated airmass and strong upper level dynamics ahead of a cold front created a couple waves of localized heavy rainfall across the local area from Dec. 1-2nd. A pre-frontal squall line with embedded supercell storms crossed the area during the afternoon of Dec. 2nd which triggered a few weak tornadoes.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (30.7800, -81.5500)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 791719. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.