F2 tornado, Screvan, Georgia, March 22, 2005

1. F040 to 72 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. F173 to 112 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. F4207 to 260 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. 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.

7. 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.

Rating

F2

Date

March 22, 2005

Touchdown

4:25 PM EST (21:25 UTC)

Path length

2.0 miles (3.2 km)

Path width

880 yards (805 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Wayne County

Touchdown point

31.480, -82.020

Lift-off point

31.480, -82.020

Record number

275

NWS Storm Survey revealed 56 homes were damaged or destroyed (includes mobile and manufactured homes), 12 businesses were damaged or destroyed, 2 public buildings were damaged as well as 1 church. Only minor injuries were reported. Georgia Emergency Management issued a statement that stated 61 homes and 8 businesses were damaged; 10 homes and 5 business were destroyed. Below is a time line of calls the NWS received:0430 pm EDT: Emergency Management reported 3 businesses destroyed and campers severely damaged in Screven from a tornado. 0430 pm EDT: Emergency Management reported numerous trees and power lines down in Screven. 0432 pm EDT: Tranied stomr spotter repored a tornado 5 miles south of Jesup and about 8 miles south of Odum. 0449 pm EDT: Tranied storm spotter and amateur radio operator reported quarter size hail in downtown Jesup and a tornado in Screven along 9 Run Road. 0450 pm EDT: Emergency Management reported campers were destroyed in Screven and a cabinet shop (Sreven Cabinet Company) was severely damaged with 1 person trapped inside. Other reports received about this event included 2 children trapped in a video store in Screven. They were pulled out and taken to the hospital with no major injuries. The Jesup Press Sentinel newspaper reported extensive damage occurred along J.L. Tyre Street and U.S. 84 in Screven. Two businesses hit particulary hard were the Screven Cabinet Company and Boyette's Camper Sales. One male was trapped in the cabinet shop after the tornado, and was successfully rescued with no notable injuries. A truck driver was driving at about 25 miles per hour in front of the cabinet shop when the tornado hit and flipped the vehicle, and the driver sufferd minor injuries. Additional business damaged by the tornado included the town's video store, Mary's IGA and Wasdin Cabinet and Doors. 0450 pm EDT: The general public sent an email that and reported a tornado in Screven and 2 inch hail in Jesup.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

9 minutes of warning. NWS JAX issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:16 UTC, 9 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:00 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 20:01 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 radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2005 tornado in GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are

10 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.