EF1 tornado, Buena Vista to Knott, 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 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

April 27, 2011

Touchdown

10:45 PM EDT (02:45 UTC)

Lifted

11:10 PM EDT (03:10 UTC)

On the ground

25 minutes

Path length

17.0 miles (27.4 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

1

Property damage

$1.8 million

Counties

Troup, Heard and Coweta counties

Touchdown point

33.139, -85.088

Lift-off point

33.302, -84.868

Record number

1104272045-02

12 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS BMX and NWS FFC, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 120 mph.

• End Point of White Plains EF-1 Tornado.
• Metal outbuilding had minor metal roof damage.
• Start point of Finley Creek EF-1 Tornado.
• End Point of Finley Creek EF-1 Tornado.

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 yet an eighth tornado had touched down within the Peachtree City, Georgia county warning area, this time in northern Troup county. An EF0 tornado touched down approximately three miles west of Hillcrest in northern Troup county and then tracked 17 miles on a northeastward track across extreme southeast Heard and into southwest Coweta counties before lifting. The tornado strengthened to an EF2 rating through much of Heard and again toward the end of the path in Coweta county. Within Troup county, the path length was about 6.5 miles. The maximum path width was 100 yards with maximum winds estimated to be 90 mph. The tornado tracked mostly through a Georiga Department of Natural Resources Wildlife area, and as such damage within northern Troup county from this tornado was confined mainly to thousands of downed trees, as well as some power lines. No significant damage to structures and no fatalities or injuries were reported from this tornado within Troup county.||[04/27-04/28/11: Tornado #8, County #1-3, EF1, Troup-Heard-Coweta, 2011:017].

A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that the EF0 tornado, which first touched down in north central Troup county, continued across far southeast Heard county before moving into southwest Coweta county. The tornado strengthened to an EF1 rating through much of Heard county and into Coweta county. A little over four miles of the tornado path was within southeast Heard county, while the entire path length of this tornado was on the order of 17 miles. The maximum path width was determined to be 100 yards with maximum winds of 90 mph. Much of the structural damage associated with this tornado occurred within Heard county, especially in an around the city of Corinth in the far southeast corner of the county. A hauling and horse trailer were damaged as they were thrown about 20 feet from their original location. Three homes and/or businesses were destroyed, two others suffered major damage, and an additional 10 others sustained minor damage. One home lost two exterior walls and its roof. Thousands of trees were uprooted along the path of the tornado. There was one injury, but no fatalities reported from this tornado within Heard county.||[04/27-04/28/11: Tornado #8, County #2-3, EF1, Troup-Heard-Coweta, 2011:017].

A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that the EF1 tornado, which first touched down in north central Troup county, tracked across far southeast Heard county, and then into Coweta county before lifting. The path length of this tornado within Coweta county was slightly over six miles, while the entire tornado path length was approximately 17 miles. The tornado paralleled Corinth Road as it tracked through southwest Coweta county, lifting near the intersection of Joe Brown Road and Corinth Road, approximately seven miles southwest of Newnan or five miles northwest of Grantville. Within Coweta county, damage was confined primarily to thousands of downed trees, and minor damage to outbuildings and fences. One home sustained major damage and one sustained minor damage. Otherwise, no significant structural damage was observed within Coweta county and there were no fatalities or injuries reported anywhere with this tornado.||[04/27-04/28/11: Tornado #8, County #3-3, EF1, Troup-Heard-Coweta, 2011:017].

A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that a second tornado touched down in Troup county, approximately five miles south of LaGrange and then traveled approximately seven miles to the northeast before lifting six miles east of LaGrange. This tornado was an EF2, had a maximum path width of 1/4 mile, with maximum winds estimated to be 120 mph. The tornado did cross Interstate-185 east of LaGrange. Fifteen homes were destroyed along the path of the tornado and another 50 homes sustained minor to moderate damage. The most significant damage occurred along Georgia Highway 219 and Murphy Road near the beginning of the tornado's path, or about two miles south of the LaGrange city limits. About 12 homes were destroyed in this area. One home in this neighborhood was picked up and thrown 50 feet while its sun room was thrown 300 yards. A well built log cabin on a hillside was completely destroyed as it was blown off its foundation in the opposite direction of the tornado's movement. While no fatalities occurred admist all of this damage, there were six injuries resulting from debris and damaged homes. Thousands of trees and many power lines were also down along the path of the tornado.||A total of 41 residential or commercial structures in Troup county were either destroyed, suffered major damage, or sustained minor to moderate damage from the two tornadoes this evening.||It should be noted that the same thunderstorm that spawned this tornado continued on to spawn yet another tornado that tracked across northeast Meriwether into western Spalding and southern Henry county shortly after this event and then later spawned additional tornadoes in east central Georgia as the night continued.||[04/27-04/28/11: Tornado #9, County #1-1, EF2, Troup, 2011:018].

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

36 minutes of warning. NWS FFC issued a tornado warning for this county at 02:09 UTC, 36 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 03:15 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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. 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.

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 41 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:44 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.