Tornadoes · United States · Georgia · 2007

EF0 tornado, Morgan, Georgia, April 14, 2007

This EF0 tornado ran 0.8 miles across Calhoun County on April 14, 2007, touching down at 9:45 PM EDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $10,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

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

  3. EF2111 to 135 mph

    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. EF3136 to 165 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

  6. EF5over 200 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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
April 14, 2007
Touchdown
9:45 PM EDT (01:45 UTC)
Lifted
9:47 PM EDT (01:47 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
0.8 miles (1.3 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$10,000
County
Calhoun County
Touchdown point
31.547, -84.600
Lift-off point
31.554, -84.588
Record number
0704141945-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A squall line of thunderstorms produced straight-line wind damage and three tornadoes across portions of southwest and south central Georgia during the evening and late night hours of April 14-15.

A weak tornado briefly touched down just north of Morgan. It damaged a structure and felled numerous trees.

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

The warnings

35 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:10 UTC, 35 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:37 UTC and running to 03:48 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
18:00 UTC03:00 UTCLake Wind AdvisoryTAE
20:37 UTC03:48 UTCTornado WatchTAE
01:03 UTC02:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAE
01:10 UTC02:00 UTCTornado WarningTAE
02:08 UTC03:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAE
03:48 UTC08:27 UTCTornado WatchTAE
08:12 UTC19:19 UTCFire Weather WatchTAE
14:00 UTC16:42 UTCLake Wind AdvisoryTAE
16:42 UTC01:00 UTCWind AdvisoryTAE

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, 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 00:54 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 air that afternoon

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.

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), 00:00Z

1.8 hours before the tornado, 131 km from the path. April 15, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 00:00Z on 2007-04-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 791 joules per kilogram, CIN -4, lifted condensation level 504 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 00:00Z on 2007-04-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 222 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 65 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
791 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1121 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
504 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
65 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
222 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
198 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
5.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), 12:00Z

10.2 hours after it, 131 km from the path. April 15, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2007-04-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2 joules per kilogram, CIN 0, lifted condensation level 541 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2007-04-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -50 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 82 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Surface CAPE
7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
541 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
82 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-50 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
00:35 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 W LeesburgLee, GASTRUCTURAL DAMAGE AT 1400 BLOCK ARMIEN RD NEAR HWY 32. ONE WOMEN TRAPPED IN HER CLOSET. SEVERALLARGE TREES DOWN ACROSS THE ROAD.
01:00 UTCTSTM WND DMGCedar SpringsEarly, GATREES DOWN IN SOUTHERN PART OF EARLY COUNTY. TIME ESTIMATED.
01:40 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Sw ArlingtonEarly, GAPOSSIBLE TORNADO. NUMEROUS TREES DOWN IN NORTHEAST PORTION OF COUNTY NEAR CALHOUN COUNTY LINE.
01:45 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 N ArlingtonCalhoun, GAPOSSIBLE TORNADO. DAMAGE TO A STRUCTURE WITH NUMEROUS TREES DOWN.
02:00 UTCTSTM WND DMGAlbanyDougherty, GATREES DOWN ACROSS COUNTY. TIME ESTIMATED.
02:10 UTCTSTM WND DMGAlbanyDougherty, GATREES DOWN ACROSS COUNTY. TIME ESTIMATED.
02:30 UTCTORNADO7 W LeesburgLee, GAPOSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR TERRELL-LEE COUNTY LINE ON HIGHWAY 32. 8 TO 10 STRUCTURES DAMAGED. ONE MOBILE HOME DESTROYED. ONE FRAME HOME DESTROYED. INFORMATION FROM EMERGENCY MANAGER.
03:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 E ColquittMiller, GAA FEW TREES REPORTED DOWN IN EASTERN MILLER COUNTY.
03:00 UTCTORNADO7 W LeesburgLee, GAPOSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR TERRELL-LEE COUNTY LINE ON HIGHWAY 32. 8 TO 10 STRUCTURES DAMAGED. ONE MOBILE HOME DESTROYED. ONE FRAME HOME DESTROYED. INFORMATION FROM EMERGENCY MANAGER. TIME ESTIMATED.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2007 tornado in GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 14, 2007

13 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 1410:10 AM CDTEF0Marion, MS0.330$1,000
April 1410:35 AM CDTEF0Jones, MS0.325
April 1411:41 AM CDTEF1Forrest, MS0.550$200,000
April 141:33 PM CDTEF1Monroe, AL1.1200$750,000
April 144:00 PM CDTEF0Crenshaw, AL0.540$100,000
April 145:12 PM CDTEF1Conecuh, AL0.350$150,000
April 146:11 PM CDTEF1Bullock, AL3.2100$10,000
April 145:05 PM PDTEF0Santa Clara, CA0.230$1,000
April 147:05 PM CDTEF1Dale, AL5.8150$250,000
April 1410:30 PM EDTEF1Lee, GA2.5100$500,000
April 141:23 AM EDTEF1Dodge, GA4.51002$350,000
April 141:45 AM EDTEF2Laurens, GA6.02003$400,000
April 141:50 AM EDTEF0Laurens, GA5.950$50,000

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.