EF1 Tornado — Douglas, Georgia

2008-03-07 · near Chapel Hill, Douglas, Georgia

Event narrative

A storm damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, Georgia concluded that a tornado, with a maximum intensity of EF1, tracked nearly seven miles across eastern Douglas county. Maximum path width was determined to be 100 yards and maximum wind speeds were estimated at 110 mph, near the upper end of the EF1 scale. The tornado, which began as an EF0 tornado, touched down in the 4300 block of Hampton Mill Drive in Chapel Hill, or about 4 miles south-southeast of Douglasville. Damage at this location was confined to minor roof damage and several snapped trees. The tornado continued across Stratford Drive as an EF0 where several more trees were snapped or bent over and a fence was blown down. The tornado then strengthened to an EF1 tornado as it crossed into a shopping center at the intersection of Bomar and Chapel Hill Roads. A Kroger grocery store sustained considerable damage when an air conditioning unit was blown off the roof, causing considerable damage to the roof of the building. An employee of the Kroger store was injured with a broken arm during the tornado. The tornado then continued as an EF1 into the Ashland Subdivision where numerous homes sustained minor roof damage and many trees were either uprooted or snapped. A number of homes in this area also sustained broken windows. A portion of the Kroger grocery store roof was found scattered about this neighborhood. As the EF1 continued on its north-northeastward track from this area, a mobile home was destroyed when a large pine tree fell on the structure. A number of large trees were also uprooted in the area. A trampoline was found up in the trees. The tornado than continued toward Ossabaw Court and Brookhollow, where winds associated with the tornado were estimated to have reached their maximum intensity of 110 mph. Numerous trees were blown down, the north side of a home was destroyed, a garage was damaged, a chimney blown down, and several homes sustained roof damage. As the tornado continued toward Warren and Pope Road, a shed was destroyed, several more large trees were uprooted, and shingles were blown off the roofs of several homes. Debris throughout the area was scattered up to 200 yards from its origin. The tornado continued on its north-northeastward track and began to weaken back to an EF0 as it tracked across Georgia Highway 92 and into the southern portions of the Lithia Springs area. A few large trees were blown down along Georgia Highway 92 just west of Bomar Road. In the southern part of Lithia Springs, several homes on Annette Drive suffered minor roof damage, a fence was blown down, a basketball goal blown over, and several trees were uprooted. The tornado ended near the intersection of Beaver Run Creek Road and Vulcan Drive, where several trees were down.

All together, one mobile home and one site-built home were destroyed, 10 homes sustained major damage, 52 sustained minor damage, 1 business had major damage, and 1 business had minor damage.

Wider weather episode

A strong arctic cold front and very deep upper trough were sweeping from the central into the eastern U.S. from the 7th into the 8th. A surface low pressure area was developing in response to this synoptic pattern along the southeast U.S. coast. Widespread showers and thunderstorms accompanied the system through Georgia during the morning hours, moving out of the region during the early afternoon. However, additional scattered showers and thunderstorms developed during the evening hours in advance of the strong cold front. As this occurred, a couple of these thunderstorms, albeit small, became severe. One spawned an EF1 tornado in the Chapel Hill area of Douglas county, causing significant damage to a large grocery store and at least 50 homes.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.6880, -84.7251)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 86227. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.