Tornadoes · United States · Georgia · 2009

EF3 tornado, Eason to Boston, Georgia, February 19, 2009

From Eason to Boston, this EF3 tornado ran 1.4 miles across Thomas County on February 19, 2009, touching down at 1:20 AM EST and reaching 500 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $100,000 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.

  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.

The record

Rating
EF3
Date
February 19, 2009
Touchdown
1:20 AM EST (06:20 UTC)
Lifted
1:23 AM EST (06:23 UTC)
On the ground
3 minutes
Path length
1.4 miles (2.3 km)
Path width
500 yards (457 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$100,000
County
Thomas County
Touchdown point
30.824, -83.799
Lift-off point
30.824, -83.775
Record number
0902190020-01

What the Weather Service recorded

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 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.

The warnings

24 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 05:56 UTC, 24 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 06:45 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 03:17 UTC and running to 06:58 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:32 UTC03:17 UTCTornado WatchTAE
03:17 UTC06:58 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchTAE
05:31 UTC06:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAE
05:56 UTC06:45 UTCTornado WarningTAE
06:58 UTC10:06 UTCTornado WatchTAE
14:00 UTC23:00 UTCLake Wind AdvisoryTAE

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 forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 04:58 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 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.

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), 00:00Z

6.3 hours before the tornado, 68 km from the path. February 19, 2009.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 00:00Z on 2009-02-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 177 joules per kilogram, CIN -19, lifted condensation level 515 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 00:00Z on 2009-02-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 371 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 67 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
177 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-19 J/kg
Surface CAPE
204 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
515 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
67 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
371 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
426 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
2.3
0-3 km lapse rate
5.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), 12:00Z

5.7 hours after it, 68 km from the path. February 19, 2009.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2009-02-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -69862, lifted condensation level 1516 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2009-02-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -244 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 76 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-69862 J/kg
Surface CAPE
208 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1516 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
76 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-244 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-97 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.4
0-3 km lapse rate
5.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 70 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 06:18 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.

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
05:45 UTCTORNADO6 S CairoGrady, GACONFIRMED TORNADO WITH MANY TREES DOWN 6 MILES TO THE SOUTH OF CAIRO. SEMI-TRAILER TRUCK OVERTURNED.
05:55 UTCTORNADO 24 Sse CairoGrady, GACONFIRMED TORNADO OF EF-2 INTENSITY JUST TO THE WEST OF GEORGIA STATE HIGHWAY 93. INITIAL TOUCHDOWN OF LONG TRACK TORNADO ON RAWLS ROAD IN GRADY COUNTY. ONE GRAIN SILO WAS DESTROYED WITH TWO OTHERS HEAVILY DAMAGED ON HOL
06:05 UTCTORNADO 25 Wsw ThomasvilleThomas, GALONG TRACK TORNADO ENTERED THOMAS COUNTY ALONG LOWER CAIRO ROAD IN A PINE TREE PLANTATION. DAMAGE WIDTH INCREASED TO 300 TO 400 YARDS IN THIS AREA WITH OVER 95 PERCENT OF PINE TREES IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO SNAPPED. TH
06:05 UTCTORNADO1 S ThomasvilleThomas, GAWDIESPREAD TREES AND POWER LINES FELLED BY CONFIRMED TORNADO AT THE INTERSTION OF 319 AND PINE TREE ROAD.
06:06 UTCTORNADO2 Ssw ThomasvilleThomas, GAWCTV WEB REPORTS 170 HOMES RECEIVED MINOR TO MODERATE DAMAGE FROM TORNADO LAST NIGHT IN AN AREA SOUTH OF THOMASVILLE. WCTV REPORTS 4200 RESIDENTS ARE WITHOUT POWER.
06:09 UTCTORNADO 11 Ssw ThomasvilleThomas, GAWIDESPREAD TREES SNAPPED AND UPROOTED ALONG U.S. HIGHWAY 319 NEAR METCALF ROAD AND CINDY ROAD. MANY HOMES WERE DAMAGED OR RENDERED INHABITABLE BY FALLEN TREES. DAMAGE IN THIS AREA WAS CONSISTENT WITH AN EF-1 TORNADO WITH
06:11 UTCTORNADO 12 Sse ThomasvilleThomas, GAEF-1 TORNADO PASSES JUST SOUTH OF DOWNTOWN THOMASVILLE AT THE SOUTHWEST GEORGIA STATE HOSPITAL ALONG PINE TREE BLVD. NUMEROUS TREES SNAPPED WITHIN THE HOSPITAL COMPLEX WITH TWO AIR CONDITIONING UNITS WERE REMOVED FROM TH
06:20 UTCTORNADOBostonThomas, GAWIDESPREAD TREES DOWN THAT WERE TWISTED AND SNAPPED OFF. WIDESPREAD POWERLINES DOWN AND MANY ROADS IMPASSIBLE.
06:23 UTCTORNADO 33 Nnw BostonThomas, GASECOND TORNADO TOUCHDOWN WITHIN THOMAS COUNTY FROM LONG TRACKED SUPERCELL. TORNADO TOUCHES DOWN ON FIVE FORKS ROAD AND CONTINUES EASTWARD TOWARD SALEM ROAD. THE TORNADO REACHES ITS MAXIMUM INTENSITY ALONG SALEM ROAD WHER
07:15 UTCTORNADOValdostaLowndes, GATORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ON VALDELL ROAD OFF OF HWY 41 IN VALDOSTA.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2009 tornado in GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are

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.