EF2 tornado, Homestead Park to Boston, Georgia, February 18, 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 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mphthis tornado

   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

EF2

Date

February 18, 2009

Touchdown

12:55 AM EST (05:55 UTC)

Lifted

1:12 AM EST (06:12 UTC)

On the ground

17 minutes

Path length

10.4 miles (16.8 km)

Path width

400 yards (366 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$10 million

County

Thomas County

Touchdown point

30.812, -84.082

Lift-off point

30.810, -83.906

Record number

0902182355-01

Just after midnight on the 19th, a long track supercell thunderstorm spawned an EF-2 tornado south of Cairo in Grady County. The tornado raced to the east into Thomas County, causing EF-2 damage just south of Thomasville. A second tornado developed and produced EF-3 damage near Boston.

The tornado crossed from adjacent Grady County into Thomas County along Lower Cairo Road where it caused extensive damage to a pine forest plantation. Three homes on the south side of the tornado's path were damaged, with one home losing part of its roof. A barn and two garages were damaged or destroyed. Along its path toward U.S. Highway 319 and Cindy Road, numerous pine trees were snapped or uprooted and fell on homes. Brookwood School and its grounds sustained significant damage, including a hole in the roof of the main building. The tornado crossed U.S. Highway 319 near Metcalf Road and moved toward the Southwest Georgia State Hospital just south of Pinetree Boulevard. It snapped more pine trees and removed two air conditioning units from the roof of one of the hospital buildings. Another hospital building was heavily damaged. The tornado began to weaken as it approached U.S. Highway 19 south of Glen Arven Country Club, and crossed U.S. Highway 19 just south of Sunset Drive. Damage in this area was limited to power lines and a few trees. Before lifting, the tornado moved across County Farm Road at the Thomas County Landfill, where a storage building was damaged with debris blown several hundred yards. According to the Thomas County Emergency Management Agency, nine mobile homes were destroyed, 29 single family homes were destroyed, and a total of 170 structures were damaged. About 4,200 residents were without power. The Governor declared a state of emergency in Thomas County.

The same supercell which spawned the EF-2 tornado near Thomasville produced another tornado, which touched down along Five Forks Road about two miles north of U.S. Highway 84. Numerous trees were snapped or twisted. Many power lines were down and several county roads were impassible due to fallen debris. The tornado was rated an EF-3 based on the debarked trees on the east side of Salem Road. The tornado lifted before crossing State Road 33.

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

15 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 05:40 UTC, 15 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 06:15 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 03:17 UTC and running to 06:58 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. 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.

Moultrie (MGR), 35 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 56 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:56 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

13 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.