Tornadoes · United States · Georgia · 2007
EF0 tornado, Sylvester to Isabella, Georgia, December 15, 2007
From Sylvester to Isabella, this EF0 tornado ran 3.9 miles across Worth County on December 15, 2007, touching down at 9:03 PM EST and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $750,000 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.
EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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
- December 15, 2007
- Touchdown
- 9:03 PM EST (02:03 UTC)
- Lifted
- 9:06 PM EST (02:06 UTC)
- On the ground
- 3 minutes
- Path length
- 3.9 miles (6.3 km)
- Path width
- 75 yards (69 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $750,000
- County
- Worth County
- Touchdown point
- 31.552, -83.913
- Lift-off point
- 31.570, -83.850
- Record number
- 0712152003-01
What the Weather Service recorded
An warm and unstable air mass collided along a strong cold front to produce reports of damaging thunderstorm winds and a pair of tornadoes across portions of southwest Georgia. Unfortunately, a fatality occurred when one of the tornadoes tossed a semi into an enbankment off Interstate 75 just northeast of Ashburn.
A weak tornado touched down just north of U.S. Highway 82, then raced northeast through the Isabella community. Along its path, the tornado damaged 29 homes and overturned several irrigation pivots. One peanut warehouse was damaged.
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. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 21:47 UTC and running to 02:48 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21:47 UTC | 02:48 UTC | Tornado Watch | TAE |
| 02:01 UTC | 02:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE |
| 02:06 UTC | 02:29 UTC | Tornado Warning | TAE |
| 12:00 UTC | 22:00 UTC | Lake Wind Advisory | TAE |
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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:00 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
2.1 hours before the tornado, 135 km from the path. December 16, 2007.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 641 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -8 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 885 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 544 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 56 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 306 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 344 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.2
- Supercell composite
- 5.7
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.1 K/km
Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), 12:00Z
9.9 hours after it, 135 km from the path. December 16, 2007.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -79467 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 9 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 610 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 71 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 14 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -94 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 182 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 2.1 K/km
What was reported nearby
Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Baconton | Mitchell, GA | *** 1 INJ *** MOBILE HOMES DAMGED, SEVERAL TREES DOWN, AND ROOFS BLOWN OFF OF 4 HOUSES IN BACONTON AND NE MITCHELL COUNTY. |
| 02:03 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 4 Wnw Sylvester | Worth, GA | INITIAL LOCATION OF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN IN WORTH COUNTY. STORM SURVEY CONFIRMED THAT SEVERAL HOMES WERE DAMAGED WEST OF SYLVESTER NEAR US-82 AND IN ANOTHER AREA EAST OF THE SYLVESTER AIRPORT. |
| 02:06 UTC | TORNADO 0 | Isabella | Worth, GA | MANY TREES DOWN, MANY MOBILE HOMES AND OTHER HOMES DAMAGED IN ISABELLA BY EF0 TORNADO. SEVERAL IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OVERTURNED. ONE PEANUT WAREHOUSE WAS MODERATELY DAMAGED. |
| 02:10 UTC | TORNADO 0 | Isabella | Worth, GA | MANY TREES DOWN, MANY MOBILE HOMES AND OTHER HOMES DAMAGED IN ISABELLA BY EF0 TORNADO. SEVERAL IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OVERTURNED. ONE PEANUT WAREHOUSE WAS MODERATELY DAMAGED. |
| 02:10 UTC | TORNADO | Isabella | Worth, GA | MANY TREES DOWN, MANY MOBILE HOMES AND OTHER HOMES DAMAGED IN ISABELLA AND YOUNGSBLOOD BY POSSIBLE TORNADO. |
| 02:15 UTC | TORNADO | 1 E Sylvester | Worth, GA | POSSIBLE TORNADO. CARPORT THROWN 100 YARDS. PINE TREE FELL ON TRUCK. DAMAGE TO SHINGLES...WINDOWS...AND A SLIDING GLASS DOOR ON RESIDENCE. |
| 02:20 UTC | TORNADO 1 | Ashburn | Turner, GA | MANY TREES DOWN AND MOBILE HOMES DAMAGED BY EF1 TORNADO. SEVERAL TREES FELLED ON HOUSES AND CARS. FOUR SINGLE-WIDE MOBILE HOMES DESTROYED. 39 FRAMED HOMES DAMAGED. PEANUT WAREHOUSE HEAVILY DAMAGED. NUMEROUS PINE TREES SN |
| 02:20 UTC | TORNADO 1 | N Ashburn | Turner, GA | MANY TREES DOWN AND MOBILE HOMES DAMAGED BY EF1 TORNADO. SEVERAL TREES FELLED ON HOUSES AND CARS. FOUR SINGLE-WIDE MOBILE HOMES DESTROYED. 39 FRAMED HOMES DAMAGED. PEANUT WAREHOUSE HEAVILY DAMAGED. NUMEROUS PINE TREES SN |
| 02:20 UTC | TORNADO | Ashburn | Turner, GA | MANY TREES DOWN AND MOBILE HOMES DAMAGED BY POSSIBLE TORNADO. SEVERAL TREES FELLED ON HOUSES AND CARS. |
| 02:22 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Ne Ashburn | Turner, GA | *** 1 FATAL *** 18-WHEELER DRIVING NORTH ON I-75 NEAR MILE MARKER 83 WAS TOSSED OFF THE INTERSTATE BY EF1 TORNADO DOWN AN EMBANKMENT. ONLY OCCUPANT OF VEHICLE WAS THE DRIVER WHO DIED ON SITE. |
| 02:30 UTC | TORNADO | 2 W Owensboro | Wilcox, GA | EF1 TOUCHED DOWN BRIEFLY. THE ROOF WAS RIPPED OFF AN OLD DAIRY SHED AND AN ATTACHED CINDER BLOCK BUILDING WAS DESTROYED. |
| 02:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Se Rochelle | Wilcox, GA | POSSIBLE TORNADO...NUMEROUS TREES DOWN AND ONE MOBILE HOME DESTROYED. |
| 02:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Ne Owensboro | Wilcox, GA | MOBILE HOME LIFTED OFF ITS FOUNDATION AND FLIPPED OVER AT INTERSECTION OF BRAMBLEWOOD AND PERRY ROAD. NUMEROUS TREES BLOWN DOWN. WINDS ESTIMATED AT 100 MPH. |
| 02:42 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Se Rochelle | Wilcox, GA | POSSIBLE TORNADO...NUMEROUS TREES DOWN AND ONE MOBILE HOME DESTROYED. |
| 02:44 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Se Rochelle | Wilcox, GA | POSSIBLE TORNADO...NUMEROUS TREES DOWN AND ONE MOBILE HOME DESTROYED. |
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 December 15, 2007
6 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 15 | 7:39 AM CST | EF0 | Tyler, TX | 0.3 | 50 | $12,000 | ||
| December 15 | 5:55 PM EST | EF0 | Early, GA | 3.8 | 75 | $30,000 | ||
| December 15 | 9:20 PM EST | EF1 | Turner, GA | 3.5 | 125 | 1 | $1.3 million | |
| December 15 | 9:30 PM EST | EF1 | Wilcox, GA | 0.5 | 100 | $5,000 | ||
| December 15 | 10:18 PM EST | EF0 | Dodge, GA | 0.5 | 25 | $25,000 | ||
| December 15 | 10:41 PM EST | EF2 | Treutlen, GA | 3.5 | 200 | $100,000 |
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.