EF2 tornado in Jefferson County, Georgia

A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast office in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that an EF2 tornado touched down in northern Jefferson county. The tornado touched down approximately one mile northwest of Wrens and traveled east a little less than nine miles across northeastern Jefferson county and the town of Matthews, before crossing into Burke county just south of the town of Keysville. The tornado continued on the ground an additional eight to nine miles into Burke county before finally lifting near the Applewood County Club in Burke county. The total tornado path length was 19 miles. The maximum path width was one-quarter mile and maximum sustained winds were estimated at 120 mph. The most significant damage occurred in Matthews, where several mobile homes were destroyed. Two businesses in Wrens were destroyed and several others sustained damage. A church and an elementary school, and several homes in Wrens also suffered at least minor damage from wind and numerous downed trees. ficant roof damage. No serious injuries or fatalities were reported from this tornado.

The pattern that began to evolve on March 14th continued and intensified on March 15th. A stationary front remained draped across north Georgia from near Atlanta to Athens. South of this front, the air mass was becoming increasingly warm, moist and unstable. Meanwhile, aloft, a low amplitude, yet vigorous short wave embedded within a fast zonal flow, was tracking rapidly eastward from the mid south into the southeast. Strong shear and high helicity combined with the unstable air mass and the frontal boundary to allow repeated severe thunderstorms to develop and track eastward along the boundary across north Georgia. The activity began early in the day as a complex of thunderstorms moved into the area from Alabama and continued until nearly midnight. As the day progressed, especially during the afternoon, the development of the activity gradually progressed further south and by midnight had reached the south and southeast parts of the state. Numerous severe thunderstorms and tornadic supercells were observed throughout the day.

Historical records indicate that this was one of the most significant severe weather days for the Peachtree City Weather Forecast Office with more events and warnings than had been observed since May 2003.