EF1 tornado, Sandfly, Georgia, June 19, 2008

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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF1

Date

June 19, 2008

Touchdown

3:37 PM EDT (19:37 UTC)

Lifted

3:38 PM EDT (19:38 UTC)

On the ground

1 minutes

Path length

0.8 miles (1.2 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$3.1 million

County

Chatham County

Touchdown point

31.990, -81.070

Lift-off point

31.990, -81.070

Record number

0806191337-01

A weak trough of low pressure in combination with the sea breeze in a well sheared and highly unstable environment, resulted in numerous thunderstorms across southern South Carolina and southeast Georgia.

The National Weather Service Office in Charleston, South Carolina completed a damage survey in Chatham county Georgia and determined that an EF-1 Tornado occurred. The Tornado developed around 3:37 pm just north of the intersection of Montgomery Cross Road and the Harry Truman Parkway and traveled south-southwest just west of the Harry Truman Parkway for aproximately 3/4 of a mile before lifting. The maximum width of the Tornado was about 100 yards, and maximum sustained winds were estimated at 90 to 100 mph. This Tornado damaged a fire station and uprooted and snapped off numerous trees. ||The vast majority of the damage was caused by at least 5 strong downbursts. In general, fairly widespread damage occurred from the Bacon Park Golf Course starting around 3:32 pm and ended near the intersection of Ferguson Avenue and Route 204 around 3:45 pm. South and southeast of this intersection and north of the Bacon Park Golf Course damage was much more sporadic. In this concentrated damage area, damage was up to 2.5 miles wide. Downburst winds knocked the steeple off a church and knocked down or snapped off thousands of trees. Tree limbs and large branches damaged 40 to 50 homes, with about a dozen of the homes sustaining major damage. Trees or large limbs fell on and destroyed about a dozen vehicles. The winds knocked down power poles and power lines, resulting in thousands of people without power. In addition, shingle and siding damage was also observed on the some of the homes. ||One of the areas of most significant damage occurred in the Lake View Subdivision just west of Ferguson Avenue. In this area downburst winds snapped off or uprooted numerous trees. Trees or large branches fell on at least a dozen homes, several homes sustained shingle or minor roof damage. One of the homes was deemed uninhabitable after a tree fell through it. Wind speeds in this area were estimated to be 80 to 90 mph.||Another area of significant damage occurred at a Gun Club between Ferguson Avenue and Harry Truman Parkway. In this area, strong winds destroyed a building and tossed an outbuilding about 30 yards. In addition, numerous large trees were snapped off or uprooted, with one tree landing on and damaging another building. Wind speeds in this area were estimated to be 90 to 100 mph.

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

5 minutes of warning. NWS CHS issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:32 UTC, 5 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:00 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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 16:09 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.

Hunter (Aaf) (SVN), 8 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 74 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:35 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 2008 tornado in GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are

8 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.