Tornadoes · United States · Georgia · 2007
EF1 tornado, Richland, Georgia, March 1, 2007
This EF1 tornado ran 1.5 miles across Stewart County on March 1, 2007, touching down at 4:11 PM EST and reaching 250 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $400,000 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 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
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
- EF1
- Date
- March 1, 2007
- Touchdown
- 4:11 PM EST (21:11 UTC)
- Lifted
- 4:13 PM EST (21:13 UTC)
- On the ground
- 2 minutes
- Path length
- 1.5 miles (2.4 km)
- Path width
- 250 yards (229 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $400,000
- County
- Stewart County
- Touchdown point
- 32.075, -84.676
- Lift-off point
- 32.090, -84.658
- Record number
- 0703011511-01
What the Weather Service recorded
A major, negatively tilted and closed upper trough rotated through the mid-south and southeast U.S. on March 1st. A 150kt jet was located over the region at 250mb with a strong 50kt low-level jet from central Alabama into central Tennessee. A wedge of cool air was present over much of north central and northeast Georgia. Rain, which spread over this area early in the day, helped enhance the wedge of cool air. Little to no severe weather was noted north of the wedge boundary across north Georgia where the air mass remained relatively cool and stable. Meanwhile...a warm, humid air mass was present across much of central and south Georgia where dewpoints had risen well into the 60s during the afternoon. The strong upper dynamics present over this region combined with the instability just south of the wedge provided a very favorable environment for long lived, strong tornadoes. A total of 14 tornadoes affecting 17 counties tracked across central and east central Georgia and within the Peachtree City, Georgia county warning area during the late afternoon and evening hours of March 1st. This was the second greatest number of tornadoes recorded to have occurred in the Peachtree City, Georgia forecast area within a 24-hour period, second only to the 16 tornadoes, affecting 18 counties, associated with Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005. The March 1st tornadoes spanned an area from Stewart county in the far southwest part of the county warning area to Warren county in the far east central portion of the county warning area. The first tornado touched down in Stewart county at 4:11 pm EST and the last tornado lifted in Marion county at 10:55 pm EST. By far the hardest hit county was Sumter county, and especially the city of Americus, where hundreds of homes and business, including the regional hospital, were heavily damaged or destroyed. Additional tornadoes were reported further south in Tallahassee and Jacksonville's, Florida's forecast areas. Federal disaster assistance had been approved for 1,836 households across the state for a total of $14.2 million. Another $5.8 million had been approved for public assistance of debris removal and to repair infrastructure. The Small Business Association also approved $7 million in disaster assistance loans. Overall damages, however, are estimated to be several hundred million.|Substantial rainfall fell across much of the state, but rainfall amounts of three to five inches were common across central and east central areas. The heaviest rainfall fell in the Hancock, Putnam, and Baldwin county areas, where some spots received in excess of six inches of rain. Some flooding was reported in these areas.
A storm survey conducted by the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Georgia concluded that an EF1 tornado touched down just southwest of Richland in northeast Stewart county, traveled across the downtown area of Richland and lifted approximately one mile northeast of Richland. The tornado traveled a path of approximately 1.5 miles with a maximum path width of 250 yards. Around 50 homes and businesses sustained damage in the city of Richland. One commercial building at the intersection of Broad and Harris streets was destroyed when the exterior brick wall collapsed. The Harmony Baptist Church on Harmony and Ponder Streets, built in 1838, was also destroyed. Only two walls were left standing. A tractor-trailer at the intersection of U.S. Highway 280 and Georgia Highway 520 was lifted and dropped by the tornado causing the trailer to collapse and split in the center. In addition, a number of trees and power lines were down throughout the Richland area.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The forecast that day
The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a High Risk, with a 0.30 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 20:06 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.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Atlanta, GA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Mar 1, 3:36 PM EST, 35 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 1, 3:36 PM EST, 35 minutes before
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HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 145 PM EST THU MAR 1 2007 GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086- 089>098-102>113-021200- BALDWIN-BANKS-BARROW-BARTOW-BIBB-BLECKLEY-BUTTS-CARROLL-CATOOSA- CHATTAHOOCHEE-CHATTOOGA-CHEROKEE-CLARKE-CLAYTON-COBB-COWETA- CRAWFORD-CRISP-DADE-DAWSON-DEKALB-DODGE-DOOLY-DOUGLAS-EMANUEL- FANNIN-FAYETTE-FLOYD-FORSYTH-GILMER-GLASCOCK-GORDON-GREENE- GWINNETT-HALL-HANCOCK-HARALSON-HARRIS-HEARD-HENRY-HOUSTON-JACKSON- JASPER-JEFFERSON-JOHNSON-JONES-LAMAR-LAURENS-LUMPKIN-MACON- MADISON-MARION-MERIWETHER-MONROE-MONTGOMERY-MORGAN-MURRAY- MUSCOGEE-NEWTON-NORTH FULTON-OCONEE-OGLETHORPE-PAULDING-PEACH- PICKENS-PIKE-POLK-PULASKI-PUTNAM-ROCKDALE-SCHLEY-SOUTH FULTON- SPALDING-STEWART-SUMTER-TALBOT-TALIAFERRO-TAYLOR-TELFAIR-TOOMBS- TOWNS-TREUTLEN-TROUP-TWIGGS-UNION-UPSON-WALKER-WALTON-WARREN- WASHINGTON-WEBSTER-WHEELER-WHITE-WHITFIELD-WILCOX-WILKES- WILKINSON- 145 PM EST THU MAR 1 2007 ...HIGH RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH TORNADOES POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SIGNIFICANT OUTBREAK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH TORNADOES POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS ALL OF NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA. .SYNOPSIS... AN INTENSE SPRINGLIKE STORM SYSTEM...MARKED BY A DEEP UPPER AND SURFACE LOW...WILL MOVE RAPIDLY FROM THE MIDWEST TOWARD THE OHIO VALLEY BY EVENING. THE TRAILING COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO WEST GEORGIA EARLY THIS EVENING AND THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE STATE OVERNIGHT. .PRIMARY HAZARDS... THE PRIMARY HAZARD WILL BE TORNADIC THUNDERSTORMS WITH MUCH OF THE STATE COVERED BY A HIGH PROBABILITY OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. IN ADDITION TO THE THREAT OF TORNADOES...DAMAGING WINDS OF 80 MPH OR GREATER AND LARGE HAIL OF 2.0 INCHES OR LARGER IS ALSO A POSSIBILITY. THE MOST LIKELY TIME WILL BE BETWEEN 3 PM AND 9 PM EST WITH THE THREAT MOVING FROM THE SOUTHWEST IN THE COLUMBUS AREA NORTHEASTWARD TOWARD ATLANTA AFTER 5 PM. .DISCUSSION... AN INTENSE AND NEGATIVELY TILTED UPPER LOW WILL MOVE RAPIDLY FROM THE MIDWEST TOWARD THE OHIO VALLEY TODAY. A DEEP SURFACE LOW WILL ACCOMPANY THE UPPER LOW WITH A TRAILING COLD THIS MORNING. THIS FRONT WILL MOVE EAST THROUGH GEORGIA BY FRIDAY MORNING. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AHEAD OF THE FRONT ARE INCREASING RAPIDLY IN ASSOCIATION WITH WARM ADVECTION IN ADVANCE OF THE SYSTEM. AS THE DAY PROGRESSES...A STRONG LOW-LEVEL JET IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER THE AREA WITH INCREASING DIFFLUENCE ALOFT. HELICITY VALUES WILL INCREASE TO 400 TO 500 BY AFTERNOON AS THE FRONT AND VERY FAVORABLE DEEP LAYER SHEAR MOVES INTO THE AREA. INSTABILITY INDICES ALSO INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON WITH CAPES EXPECTED NEAR 1000 AND LIFTED INDICES AROUND MINUS 1 TO MINUS 2. COMBINE ALL THIS WITH AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES IN THE 60S TO NEAR 70 AND DEWPOINTS IN THE 50S... SIGNIFICANT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGERS...SHOULD CONSIDER ACTIVATION THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING HOURS.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Mar 1, 1:29 PM EST, 2 hours 42 minutes before
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</html>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.
Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), 12:00Z
9.2 hours before the tornado, 144 km from the path. March 1, 2007.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -92557 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1054 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 43 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 376 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 457 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.2 K/km
Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), 00:00Z
2.8 hours after it, 144 km from the path. March 2, 2007.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 29 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -109 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 565 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 59 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 317 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 412 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.5 K/km
The surface observations
Fort Benning (LSF), 42 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 UTC |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
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 March 1, 2007
42 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 1 | 1:30 AM CST | EF0 | Monroe, MO | 2.1 | 50 | |||
| March 1 | 1:40 AM CST | EF1 | Monroe, MO | 3.4 | 60 | |||
| March 1 | 1:43 AM CST | EF1 | Monroe, MO | 8.6 | 100 | |||
| March 1 | 4:28 AM CST | EF0 | Carroll, AR | 2.0 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| March 1 | 6:24 AM CST | EF3 | Ozark, MO | 15.0 | 200 | 1 | $760,000 | |
| March 1 | 9:50 AM CST | EF0 | Catahoula Parish, LA | 0.5 | 50 | |||
| March 1 | 10:45 AM CST | EF0 | Union, IL | 1.8 | 150 | $100,000 | ||
| March 1 | 11:20 AM CST | EF0 | Santa Rosa, FL | 0.5 | 30 | $8,000 | ||
| March 1 | 11:58 AM CST | EF1 | Yazoo, MS | 6.5 | 100 | $90,000 | ||
| March 1 | 12:05 PM CST | EF0 | Butler, AL | 3.1 | 30 | $20,000 | ||
| March 1 | 12:27 PM CST | EF4 | Millers Ferry tornado, AL | 6.1 | 500 | 1 | 2 | $2.0 million |
| March 1 | 12:31 PM CST | EF1 | Dallas, AL | 12.2 | 500 | $250,000 | ||
| March 1 | 12:47 PM CST | EF0 | Macon, IL | 1.0 | 30 | 1 | $37,000 | |
| March 1 | 1:08 PM CST | EF4 | Enterprise tornado, AL | 10.3 | 500 | 9 | 50 | $250 million |
| March 1 | 1:48 PM CST | EF1 | Dale, AL | 7.1 | 150 | 4 | $2.5 million | |
| March 1 | 1:52 PM CST | EF1 | Henry, AL to GA | 30.8 | 150 | 2 | $11 million | |
| March 1 | 2:20 PM CST | EF1 | Todd, KY | 0.2 | 30 | $35,000 | ||
| March 1 | 2:48 PM CST | EF2 | Lowndes, AL | 24.6 | 600 | 6 | $700,000 | |
| March 1 | 2:59 PM CST | EF1 | Fayette, AL | 11.2 | 150 | $50,000 | ||
| March 1 | 3:00 PM CST | EF1 | Tuscaloosa, AL | 3.7 | 100 | $50,000 | ||
| March 1 | 3:12 PM CST | EF1 | Barbour, AL | 2.4 | 75 | |||
| March 1 | 3:45 PM CST | EF2 | Winston, AL | 9.6 | 100 | $50,000 | ||
| March 1 | 4:06 PM CST | EF1 | Jefferson, AL | 0.9 | 400 | $100,000 | ||
| March 1 | 5:29 PM EST | EF2 | Taylor, GA | 7.7 | 448 | 1 | 4 | $500,000 |
| March 1 | 5:34 PM EST | EF3 | Crawford, GA | 9.7 | 448 | 9 | $525,000 | |
| March 1 | 5:49 PM EST | EF1 | Crawford, GA | 11.9 | 100 | $100,000 | ||
| March 1 | 5:51 PM EST | EF0 | Bibb, GA | 2.5 | 100 | $100,000 | ||
| March 1 | 5:27 PM CST | EF2 | Muscogee, AL to GA | 11.7 | 300 | 1 | $28 million | |
| March 1 | 6:30 PM EST | EF1 | Jones, GA | 3.6 | 150 | $500,000 | ||
| March 1 | 6:44 PM EST | EF0 | Jones, GA | 0.0 | 50 | $5,000 | ||
| March 1 | 5:56 PM CST | EF1 | Shelby, AL | 0.7 | 100 | $30,000 | ||
| March 1 | 7:00 PM EST | EF1 | Talbot, GA | 4.1 | 100 | $50,000 | ||
| March 1 | 8:08 PM EST | EF2 | Warren, GA | 11.7 | 448 | 3 | $700,000 | |
| March 1 | 9:00 PM EST | EF3 | Webster, GA | 40.1 | 1,790 | 2 | 11 | $111 million |
| March 1 | 9:36 PM EST | EF3 | Macon, GA | 3.1 | 1,790 | $2,000 | ||
| March 1 | 10:30 PM EST | EF0 | Bleckley, GA | 1.4 | 448 | $250,000 | ||
| March 1 | 10:40 PM EST | EF2 | Wilkinson, GA | 13.3 | 895 | $30,000 | ||
| March 1 | 10:52 PM EST | EF1 | Marion, GA | 2.5 | 100 | $25,000 | ||
| March 1 | 11:44 PM EST | EF2 | Baker, GA | 30.5 | 200 | 6 | 3 | $4.0 million |
| March 1 | 12:20 AM EST | EF2 | Worth, GA | 4.5 | 150 | 2 | $275,000 | |
| March 1 | 12:30 AM EST | EF2 | Worth, GA | 2.9 | 200 | $500,000 | ||
| March 1 | 12:42 AM EST | EF1 | Tift, GA | 7.9 | 150 | $1.4 million |
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.