Tornadoes · United States · Georgia · 2000
F2 tornado, Americus, Georgia, December 16, 2000
This F2 tornado ran 10.0 miles across Sumter County on December 16, 2000, touching down at 9:30 PM EST and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $310,000 of property damage.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2113 to 157 mphthis tornado
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
F3158 to 206 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5261 to 318 mph
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.
The record
- Rating
- F2
- Date
- December 16, 2000
- Touchdown
- 9:30 PM EST (02:30 UTC)
- Path length
- 10.0 miles (16.1 km)
- Path width
- 100 yards (91 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $310,000
- County
- Sumter County
- Touchdown point
- 32.000, -84.170
- Lift-off point
- 32.070, -83.980
- Record number
- 619
What the Weather Service recorded
A National Weather Service disaster survey team reported that an F2 tornado first touched down at 9:30 pm EST 6 miles southeast of Americus, Georgia, on Henry Hart Road, midway between Georgia Highway 377 and U. S. Highway 280. The tornado then moved northeast at approximately 45 mph lifting 1 mile east of the Flint river at Georgia Highway 27 and Joe Stewart Road around 9:42 pm EST. The tornado cut a path up to 100 yards wide and traveled on the ground about 10 miles or 12 minutes. Although the tornado traveled through mainly rural areas, significant damage was reported. A wooden frame house was completely destroyed near the tornado's touchdown point on Henry Hart Road, while another home was damaged nearby. As the tornado continued along its northeastward path, five outbuildings were destroyed, three barns were destroyed, two cattle were killed, one large camper was overturned, one high tension power line tower was severely damaged, and a few temporary construction trailers were damaged. Finally, just before the tornado lifted, several chicken houses were destroyed on Joe Stewart Road. As a result, nearly 400 chickens were killed. In addition, numerous trees and power lines were blown down all across the county. There were no injuries or deaths reported with the tornado.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.
Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.
The forecast that day
The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 00:26 UTC.
SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.
The surface observations
Albany Municipal (ABY), 57 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:50 UTC | 71.6 | 68 | 230° 17 kt | 1011.9 | -RA | |
| 01:50 UTC | 71.6 | 68 | 210° 13 kt | 1011.2 | ||
| 02:47 UTC | 71.6 | 68 | 230° 18 kt | 45 | 1011.2 | -RA |
| 03:50 UTC | 230° 10 kt |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2000 tornado in GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of December 16, 2000
23 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 16 | 10:34 AM CST | F2 | Geneva, AL | 4.5 | 100 | 1 | 9 | $2.5 million |
| December 16 | 11:00 AM CST | F2 | Dale, AL | 29.0 | 170 | $5.0 million | ||
| December 16 | 11:30 AM CST | F2 | Lauderdale, MS | 12.0 | 440 | 17 | $2.1 million | |
| December 16 | 12:25 PM CST | F1 | Lawrence, AL | 5.1 | 30 | $100,000 | ||
| December 16 | 12:38 PM CST | F2 | Limestone, AL | 4.8 | 60 | $150,000 | ||
| December 16 | 12:54 PM CST | F4 | Tuscaloosa tornado, AL | 18.0 | 750 | 11 | 144 | $13 million |
| December 16 | 12:55 PM CST | F0 | Walton, FL | 0.2 | 50 | $3,000 | ||
| December 16 | 1:08 PM CST | F1 | Lincoln, TN | 1.5 | 50 | $50,000 | ||
| December 16 | 1:24 PM CST | F2 | Holmes, FL | 3.0 | 100 | $750,000 | ||
| December 16 | 1:29 PM CST | F0 | Perry, AL | 0.7 | 30 | $4,000 | ||
| December 16 | 1:50 PM CST | F1 | Jackson, FL | 5.0 | 70 | $300,000 | ||
| December 16 | 2:20 PM CST | F2 | St. Clair, AL | 8.5 | 200 | 2 | $170,000 | |
| December 16 | 2:46 PM CST | F3 | Etowah, AL | 12.8 | 500 | 14 | $10 million | |
| December 16 | 3:17 PM CST | F0 | Calhoun, AL | 0.3 | 20 | |||
| December 16 | 4:50 PM EST | F2 | Dougherty, GA | 6.0 | 70 | $750,000 | ||
| December 16 | 4:55 PM CST | F0 | Autauga, AL | 0.2 | 20 | |||
| December 16 | 5:46 PM CST | F0 | Macon, AL | 0.7 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| December 16 | 6:19 PM CST | F0 | Randolph, AL | 1.0 | 40 | $10,000 | ||
| December 16 | 10:10 PM EST | F0 | Abbeville, SC | 0.1 | 0 | |||
| December 16 | 12:00 AM EST | F0 | Cumberland, NC | 0.1 | 20 | |||
| December 16 | 12:10 AM EST | F0 | Harnett, NC | 0.1 | 20 | |||
| December 16 | 12:10 AM EST | F2 | Richmond, GA | 2.0 | 60 | 8 | ||
| December 16 | 12:15 AM EST | F0 | Harnett, NC | 0.1 | 20 |
What this means
Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.
Sources
NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.