EF1 tornado, Jesup, Georgia, December 9, 2009

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

December 9, 2009

Touchdown

2:15 PM EST (19:15 UTC)

Lifted

2:25 PM EST (19:25 UTC)

On the ground

10 minutes

Path length

1.6 miles (2.6 km)

Path width

250 yards (229 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

1

County

Wayne County

Touchdown point

31.587, -81.847

Lift-off point

31.597, -81.823

Record number

0912091315-01

A storm system moved into the Great Lakes region with trailing frontal boundary advancing into the Jacksonville area. A strong low level jet was aligned across the area generating gusty southwesterly low level winds. Those southwesterly winds maintained humid conditions with dew-points climbing into the upper 60s and lower 70s and destabilizing the atmosphere. The combination of warm/muggy conditions supported strong thunderstorm development along frontal boundary. Although upper dynamics were limited...the presence of a low level jet created favorable conditions for pulse strong to severe thunderstorms. A brief mesocyclone spun up in a thunderstorm over Wayne County, Georgia producing an EF-1 tornado which destroyed a mobile home and injured one individual. The tornado touched down near Gardi, Wayne County, Georgia, other damage occurred in Appling and Coffee Counties.

A National Weather Service storm survey confirmed an EF1 touchdown near 632 Longford Road. At that location trees were overturned and snapped, a swimming pool cage was destroyed and a shed was flipped over onto its side. Winds here were estimated to be 90 mph or EF-1 velocity. The vortex then moved northeast over a wooded area and lake snapping trees. This area was not assessable; however, damage appeared to be in the EF-1 range. The storm then moved over Bethlehem Road downing and snapping trees and power lines. A school bus was also tossed into a ditch near Bethlehem Road and Fender Drive with no injuries and no students onboard. The funnel then struck a shed and mobile home destroying both with debris thrown approximately one quarter mile into the woods. The occupant of the mobile home was tossed from the structure with minor injuries and winds in this area were estimated at 110 mph or strong EF-1 status. The system them moved through a wooded area again snapping trees and crossed Grantham Road near Kicklighter Drive again snapping trees and power lines. Winds were estimated near 90 mph in this area and the vortex lifted off the ground at this point.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

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, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:32 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.

Ft Stewart/Wright (LHW), 42 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Jacksonville radar (KJAX), 124 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:12 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 2009 tornado in GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are

1 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.