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EF1 tornado in Sumter County, Georgia

Tornado August 17, 2021 · Sumter County, Georgia

EF1
Rating
1.2 mi
Path length
325 yd
Path width
$200K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 325 yards (0.18 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 found that an EF1 tornado with maximum wind Speeds of 95 mph and a maximum path width of 325 yards touched down in a residential area on the northeast side of Americus. Damage began along Pineview Drive, just south of Fire Station #3, where a few smaller trees were snapped or uprooted and a few shingles were pulled off of a house. The tornado rapidly strengthened as it moved north northwest crossing Crawford Street (Highway 49) and moved along Wanda Way and Sharon Drive with numerous medium-sized trees either uprooted or snapped. As the tornado continued northwest, significant damage to trees occurred between Sharon Circle and Pine Avenue. In this area, several homes sustained damage, with several severely damaged by large falling trees. This is where maximum wind speeds were estimated at 95 MPH. Several additional trees were snapped or uprooted along Railroad Street before the tornado dissipated. In all, more than 40 residences sustained some visible damage. No injuries were reported. [8/17/21: Tornado #1, County #1/1, EF-1, Sumter, 2021:015].

The wider storm

The remains of Tropical Storm Fred moved across central and north Georgia as a tropical depression during the overnight hours through the morning producing isolated reports of damaging winds in convective bands and several tornadoes. No reports of wind damage were received outside of the stronger convective bands. Rainfall amounts exceeded 4 inches in portions of northeast Georgia, with amounts of 6 to 8 inches observed in the northeast Georgia mountains.

Began near Americus (32.0775, -84.2087).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 970167. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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