EF3 tornado, Weston to Methvins, Georgia, March 1, 2007

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF3

Date

March 1, 2007

Touchdown

9:00 PM EST (02:00 UTC)

Lifted

9:36 PM EST (02:36 UTC)

On the ground

36 minutes

Path length

40.1 miles (64.6 km)

Path width

1,790 yards (1637 m)

Deaths

2

Injuries

11

Property damage

$111 million

Counties

Webster and Sumter counties

Touchdown point

31.922, -84.551

Lift-off point

32.230, -84.070

Record number

0703012000-01

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 damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, GA concluded that a strong, violent, and long-lived EF3 tornado tracked across southeast Webster, much of Sumter, and far southern Macon counties. The tornado touched down near Chambliss on the Webster/Terrell county line and tracked east-northeast exiting the county into Sumter county near Bottsford. While the overall path length of the tornado was around 40 miles, the path length within Webster county was between seven and eight miles. While the tornado reached its maximum path width of 1.0 mile in Sumter county near Americus, it was determined to be less than this within Webster county. A path of significant damage was noted across southeast Webster county. A concrete block house and two machine shops on East Centerpoint Road just northeast of Chambliss were completely destroyed. Three injuries resulted from the damage here. Twenty-five feet of asphalt in front of the home was also ripped up by the tornado. On a nearby farm, five cows were killed when they were tossed about by the tornado. A tractor-trailer traveling on Georgia Highway 520 near Chambliss was overturned causing it to catch on fire and burn. Very nearby, at the intersection of Georgia Highway 520 and TV Tower Road, a 1096 foot Georgia Public Television transmission tower was destroyed when two-thirds of the tower was twisted off by the tornado and destroyed. Only 150 feet of the 1096 foot tower was left standing after the tornado passed. Numerous trees and power lines were also down in the area.

A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Georgia concluded that the EF3 tornado that first touched down in southeast Webster county continued to track northeast from the southwest to the northeast corner of Sumter county and then continued into extreme southern Macon county before finally lifting. The tornado tracked a total distance on the ground of approximately 40 miles. The tornado entered Sumter county about 4.75 miles southwest of Plains in southwest Sumter county and exited the northeast part of the county about 9 miles north of Methvins in northeast Sumter county. This was by far the most violent and devastating tornado of the March 1st outbreak. The tornado tracked roughly 32 miles across Sumter county with a maximum path width of 1.0 mile wide, which occurred in the Americus area. Damage within the city of Americus was extensive, although structures, trees, and power lines were down along the entire path of the tornado. The most significant damage in Americus was to the Sumter Regional Hospital, of which a significant portion was destroyed. Hundreds of homes and businesses in the Americus area were either totally destroyed or sustained significant damage. Hunderds of vehicles were also damaged or destroyed by debris and/or tossed about like matchsticks. The majority of the damage was within the vicinity of the Sumter Regional Hospital. Two deaths were reported at a home in Americus when a wall collapsed on a 43 year-old male and a 53-year old female. At least eight injuries were documented, but there may have been more.||Within the city of Americus, proper, there were 1235 total structures damaged or destroyed, including 217 businesses, 993 residences, 3 cemeteries, 10 churches, 1 fire station, 1 hospital, 8 recreational facilities/parks, and 2 schools. There were 75 structures (42 businesses, 31 residences, 1 hospital, 1 church) were destroyed. There were 148 structures (27 businesses, 116 residences, 3 recreational facilities/parks, 2 churches) with major damage. There were 331 structures (60 businesses, 260 residences, 3 recreational facilities/parks, 5 churches, 1 school, 2 cemeteries) with moderate damage and 681 structures (88 businesses, 586 residences, 2 recreational facilities/parks, 2 churches, 1 school, 1 cemetery, 1 fire station) with minor damage.

The deaths

2 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

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

29 minutes of warning. NWS FFC issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:31 UTC, 29 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 01:39 UTC and running to 04:47 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 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 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.

Albany Municipal (ABY), 61 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Robins AFB radar (KJGX), 112 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:01 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

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

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

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

42 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.