EF3 tornado, Alvaton to Hampton, Georgia, April 27, 2011

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

April 27, 2011

Touchdown

11:59 PM EDT (03:59 UTC)

Lifted

12:28 AM EDT (04:28 UTC)

On the ground

29 minutes

Path length

21.7 miles (34.9 km)

Path width

880 yards (805 m)

Deaths

2

Injuries

0

Property damage

$25 million

Counties

Meriwether, Spalding and Henry counties

Touchdown point

33.166, -84.581

Lift-off point

33.357, -84.266

Record number

1104272159-01

22 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS FFC, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF3. The highest wind the damage implies is 140 mph.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

A highly diffluent, deep upper trough, centered across Texas, took on a negative tilt and began to rotate northeast during this period. A strong maritime-Pacific (mP) cold front accompanied the upper trough through the mid-south into the southeast from the early morning hours of the 27th to the early morning hours of the 28th. An intense low-level jet with winds in excess of 70 knots was noted in advance of this system and tracked across the mid-south early on the 27th, across north Alabama and north Georgia into the early morning hours of the 28th. West-southwest winds aloft were highly diffluent and near 200 mph across this same region. The strong low-level jet brought unseasonably, warm, moist Gulf air northward in advance of the mP cold front. Dewpoints in the 70s and maximum temperatures in the 80s combined with the extremely strong low-level and upper jets to create an almost perfect environment for severe thunderstorms and large devastating tornadoes. Indeed, the tornado outbreak that affected much of the eastern U.S., but particularly the south central and southeastern U.S. during this period, was unprecedented and likely the largest recorded in U.S. history. The tornado outbreak that accompanied this combination of weather features has been termed the 2011 Super Outbreak, an outbreak even worse than the 1994 and 1974 super tornado outbreaks across the eastern U.S. The outbreak affected the South Central, Southeast, Midwest, and even the usually less tornado prone Northeastern United States. Over 330 tornadoes were reported during this outbreak which began on April 25th and continued into the 28th affecting 21 states from Texas to New York. Even isolated tornadoes were noted in Canada. Nearly 350 people died from these tornadoes, of which over 230 of these were in Alabama alone. Four tornadoes on April 27th in Alabama and Mississippi were ranked EF5, the highest tornado damage rating on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. On average, there is only one EF5 tornado per year in the entire U.S.||Widespread and destructive tornadoes occurred on each day of the outbreak, but April 27th was clearly one of the most prolific and destructive tornado days in U.S. history, probably only surpassed by the Tri-State outbreak of 1925 and the Tupelo-Gainesville outbreak of 1936. The 24-hour period from 8 am April 27th to 8 a.m. April 28th is listed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as the fourth deadliest tornado outbreak in U.S. history, with the 24 hours commencing April 28th at 8 a.m. as the fifth deadliest tornado day in U.S. history. It has also been determined to be the costliest tornado outbreaks and one of the costliest natural disasters in the U.S., even after adjustments for inflation, with total damages estimated to exceed $10 billion. ||Georgia was heavily impacted by this tornado outbreak, especially the northwest part of the state which bore the brunt of the massive supercell thunderstorms producing killer tornadoes that tracked east-northeast from northern Alabama during the late evening. All together, there were 15 tornadoes affecting 28 counties within the Peachtree City, Georgia 96-county warning area (CWA) of North and Central Georgia. All of these occurred within a 24-hour period commencing at 8 am April 27th. One of these tornadoes was rated an EF4, the first EF4 tornado in Georgia since the Palm Sunday outbreak in 1994. In addition, there were also four EF3 tornadoes. Fifteen tornado-related deaths were observed in north and central Georgia, the most tornado-related deaths within the Peachtree City, Georgia forecast area since its inception in 1994. The previous highest tornado-related death total was 12 on March 20, 1998, when a tornado struck Gainesville, Georgia.||Finally, it should be noted that while the most significant period of severe weather during this outbreak for Georgia was from the afternoon of the 27th through the early morning hours of the 28th, there was an initial round of severe weather across northwest Georgia early on the 27th as a decaying line of severe thunderstorms moved into the region from northeast Alabama. Widespread wind damage and even a few brief weaker tornadoes accompanied this system into the northwest counties of the state.

A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that a second tornado touched down in northeast Meriwether county simultaneously while another EF2 tornado was tracking across the southern part of the county. Although this tornado was only EF2 strength during its small track across northeast Meriwether county, it strengthened to an EF3 rating shortly after entering Spalding county and continued at an EF3 rating until it just moved across the Henry county line near the ends of its track. The tornado touched down just south of Alvaton and just south of the intersection of Georgia Highways 74 and 362, then tracked northeast across western and northern Spalding county and into extreme southern Henry county before lifting. The tornado resulted in two deaths in western Spalding county near the town of Birdie. The tornado had a total path length of near 22 miles, with approximately 5.5 miles of this within northeast Meriwether county. The maximum path width was 1/2 mile with maximum winds estimated to be 140 mph. Damage in Meriwether county was confined primarily to several hundred downed trees, some power lines, and minor structural damage to outbuildings. There were no fatalities or injuries within Meriwether county from this tornado.||[04/27-04/28/11: Tornado #11, County #1-3, EF3, Meriwether-Spalding-Henry, 2011:020].

A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that the EF3 tornado that first touched down in northeast Meriwether county around 1155 pm EDT continued into western Spalding county. The tornado entered Spalding county approximately three miles south of Digbey, then continued northeast across the communities of Vaughn, Birdie, and Sunny Side before moving into southern Henry county and then lifting just across the Henry county line, approximately two miles south of Hampton. Approximately 15.6 miles of the near 20-mile long path of this EF3 tornado were within Spalding county. The total path length of the tornado within Spalding county was approximately 15.6 miles. The path width remained at 1/2 mile wide with maximum winds estimated to be 140 mph. Two fatalities were recorded in Spalding county in the southwest part of the county, southwest of Vaughn, as a result of this tornado. These deaths occurred when a mobile home was overturned and destroyed. Within Spalding county there were 400 structures affected including 45 homes and/or businesses destroyed, 280 with major damage, and 75 with minor damage. Thousands of trees and dozens of power lines were down along the entire path of the tornado. The tornado crossed both Georgia Highway 16, Georgia Highway 92, and U.S. Highway 19/41 on its path across the county. Along Georgia Highway 92, just one mile east of the Flint River and the Fayette county line, trees were completely flattened within a 1/4 mile wide area on both sides of the road. Several commercial businesses were destroyed at the intersection of U.S. Highway 19/41 and School Road, just south of the Henry county line.||[04/27-04/28/11: Tornado #11, County #2-3, EF3, Meriwether-Spalding-Henry, 2011:020].

A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that the tornado, which originally touched down in northeast Meriwether county as an EF2 and then continued across western Spalding county as an EF3, moved into Henry county before lifting just across the Spalding/Henry county line, approximately 1/2 mile into the county or about two miles south of Hampton. The tornado briefly maintained its EF3 intensity as it entered Henry county. Only minor damage was observed within Henry county, mainly downed trees, power lines, and minor structural damage to a few buildings and trees, mainly along Hall View, Pamona, and Hedgewood Drive.||[04/27-04/28/11: Tornado #11, County #3-3, EF3, Meriwether-Spalding-Henry, 2011:020].

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.

30 minutes of warning. NWS FFC issued a tornado warning for this county at 03:29 UTC, 30 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 22:52 UTC and running to 04:57 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 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:50 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.

Peachtree City (FFC), 17 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 17 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:58 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 2011 tornado in GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are

209 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 210 of them

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.