Tornadoes · United States · Georgia · 2011

EF0 tornado, Leesburg to Starksville, Georgia, March 26, 2011

From Leesburg to Starksville, this EF0 tornado ran 0.3 miles across Lee County on March 26, 2011, touching down at 5:54 PM EDT and reaching 10 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $5,000 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 mphthis tornado

    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 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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
March 26, 2011
Touchdown
5:54 PM EDT (21:54 UTC)
Lifted
5:55 PM EDT (21:55 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.3 miles (0.5 km)
Path width
10 yards (9 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$5,000
County
Lee County
Touchdown point
31.747, -84.157
Lift-off point
31.752, -84.154
Record number
1103261554-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Two outbreaks of large hail-producing supercell thunderstorms occurred over the weekend of March 26-27, 2011. The number of supercells, structure of the storms, and number of reports of large hail received over this two-day event is unprecedented in this forecast area and reminiscent of events that occur out in the plains.

A brief tornado touchdown was confirmed on the north and east side of Leesburg. People reported seeing debris circulating in the air with minor damage to light poles, trees, and outbuildings. The monetary damage figure provided is a rough estimate.

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

The warnings

6 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:48 UTC, 6 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 17:17 UTC and running to 00:47 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
17:17 UTC00:47 UTCTornado WatchTAE
21:42 UTC22:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAE
21:48 UTC22:15 UTCTornado WarningTAE
22:16 UTC22:36 UTCTornado WarningTAE
00:08 UTC00:30 UTCTornado WarningTAE
00:47 UTC01:59 UTCTornado WatchTAE

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:00 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), 12:00Z

9.9 hours before the tornado, 151 km from the path. March 26, 2011.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2011-03-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 379 joules per kilogram, CIN -105, lifted condensation level 648 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 12:00Z on 2011-03-26The 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 120 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 37 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
379 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-105 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
648 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
120 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
159 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6
0-3 km lapse rate
2.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

2.1 hours after it, 151 km from the path. March 27, 2011.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 00:00Z on 2011-03-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1048 joules per kilogram, CIN -2, lifted condensation level 884 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 2011-03-27The 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 141 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 52 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
1048 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1531 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
884 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
141 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
212 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
4.5
0-3 km lapse rate
6.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
21:40 UTCTORNADO 02 Ssw Georgia VeteransSumter, GANWS PERSONNEL IN CONJUCTION WITH LOCAL EMER MGMT DETERMINED THAT A BRIEF EF-0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR THE SUMTER-CRISP COUNTY LINE OVER LAKE BLACKSHEAR. MAXIMUM WIND SPEEDS WERE ESTIMATED AT 80 MPH. THE TORNADO TRAVELE
21:48 UTCHAIL 1.75W CordeleCrisp, GA
21:54 UTCTORNADON LeesburgLee, GABRIEF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN CONFIRMED ON THE NORTH AND EAST SIDE OF LEESBURG. PEOPLE REPORTED SEEING DEBRIS CIRCULATING IN THE AIR. MINOR DAMAGE TO LIGHT POLES...TREES AND OUTBUILDINGS.
22:00 UTCHAIL 11 Wnw Georgia VeteransCrisp, GA
22:55 UTCNON-TSTM WND DMG5 E ArabiCrisp, GANWS PERSONELL IN CONJUCTION WITH CRISP COUNTY EMER MGMT DETERMINED THAT STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS OF 75 MPH CAUSED A MOBILE HOME ON THE 1200 BLOCK OF BROCK RD IN SOUTHEAST CRISP COUNTY TO BE HEAVILY DAMAGED. A FEW TREES WERE A
23:22 UTCTORNADOBenevolenceRandolph, GAEMERGENCY MANAGEMENT/RANDOLPH SHERIFF DEPT. REPORT A TORNADO TOUCHDOWN IN THE CITY OF BENEVOLENCE. DAMAGE INCLUDES SEVERAL TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN...ONE MOBILE HOME DESTROYED...ONE MOBILE HOME SEVERELY DAMAGED...AND SE
23:22 UTCAVALANCHEBenevolenceRandolph, GAEMERGENCY MANAGEMENT/RANDOLPH SHERIFF DEPT. REPORT A TORNADO TOUCHDOWN IN THE CITY OF BENEVOLENCE. DAMAGE INCLUDES SEVERAL TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN...ONE MOBILE HOME DESTROYED...ONE MOBILE HOME SEVERELY DAMAGED...AND SE

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2011 tornado in GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of March 26, 2011

7 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 264:10 PM CDTEF1Shelby, AL0.250$18,000
March 265:40 PM EDTEF0Crisp, GA0.7200$30,000
March 266:35 PM EDTEF0Quitman, GA0.110
March 267:22 PM EDTEF1Randolph, GA0.420$65,000
March 267:40 PM EDTEF0Bulloch, GA0.6100$40,000
March 267:42 PM EDTEF1Bulloch, GA3.1440$250,000
March 269:36 PM EDTEF1Laurens, GA3.5500$250,000

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.