Tornadoes · United States · Georgia · 2014

EF0 tornado, Box Spgs to Talbotton, Georgia, November 23, 2014

From Box Spgs to Talbotton, this EF0 tornado ran 3.2 miles across Talbot County on November 23, 2014, touching down at 4:01 PM EST and reaching 50 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
November 23, 2014
Touchdown
4:01 PM EST (21:01 UTC)
Lifted
4:05 PM EST (21:05 UTC)
On the ground
4 minutes
Path length
3.2 miles (5.1 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$5,000
County
Talbot County
Touchdown point
32.615, -84.551
Lift-off point
32.653, -84.521
Record number
1411231501-01

The damage survey

2 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS FFC, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 105 mph.

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

What the Weather Service recorded

Moderate instability and strong shear associated with a deepening upper-level trough and surface low produced scattered thunderstorms across portions of Central Georgia. Several severe thunderstorms with damaging winds and several tornadoes occurred in the afternoon and early evening hours along and behind a warm front lifting north across the state.

A NWS storm survey team found that an EF-1 tornado, with maximum wind speeds of 100 MPH, crossed Upatoi Creek from Marion County into Talbot County west of the Juniper community. The tornado tracked northeast around 2.5 miles mile before lifting around Benson Lake near the intersection of U.S. Highway 80 and the Cusseta Highway. The tornado caused mainly damage to trees with several hardwood and softwood trees snapped or uprooted. [11/23/14: Tornado #3, County #3-3, EF1, Chattahoochee-Marion-Talbot, 2014:020].

A NWS storm survey team found that an EF-0 tornado, with maximum wind speeds of 80 MPH, touched down in Talbot County south of the city of Talbotton near the intersection of Oak Grove Church Road and State Highway 22. The tornado tracked northeast for just over 3 miles before lifting near Packing House Road, causing mainly damage to trees. [11/23/14: Tornado #4, County #1-1, EF0, Talbot, 2014:021].

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

The warnings

0 minutes of warning. NWS FFC issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:01 UTC, 0 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:30 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:32 UTC21:00 UTCTornado WarningFFC
21:01 UTC21:30 UTCTornado WarningFFC
21:25 UTC22:13 UTCTornado WatchFFC

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 Marginal Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:48 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.

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), 12:00Z

9.0 hours before the tornado, 82 km from the path. November 23, 2014.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2014-11-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2 joules per kilogram, CIN 0, lifted condensation level 430 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2014-11-23The 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 162 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 42 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
430 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
162 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
380 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
2.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), 00:00Z

3.0 hours after it, 82 km from the path. November 24, 2014.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 2014-11-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 8 joules per kilogram, CIN -6, lifted condensation level 617 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 2014-11-24The 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 365 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 81 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
8 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Surface CAPE
28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
617 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
81 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
365 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
368 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 81 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:01 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
20:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGColumbusMuscogee, GAMULTIPLE TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN ON WELLBORN DRIVE.
20:40 UTCTORNADO1 W CussetaChattahoochee, GATHIS IS A CONTINUATION OF THE TORNADO THAT FORMED IN ALABMA AND MOVED ACROSS STEWART COUNTY INTO CHATTAHOOCHEE COUNTY PRODUCING WIDESPREAD TREE DAMAGE NEAR CUSSETTA.
20:48 UTCTSTM WND DMGColumbusMuscogee, GATREE DOWN ON HOME ON FLOYD COURT.
21:10 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 N GenevaTalbot, GANUMEROUS TREES DOWN...SOME TWISTED... IN AN AREA ALONG HIGHWAY 80 BETWEEN GENEVA AND TALBOTTON.
21:10 UTCTORNADO2 N GenevaTalbot, GATHIS IS A CONTINUATION OF THE TORNADO THAT FORMED IN ALABAMA AND MOVED INTO STEWART COUNTY AND NORTHEAST FOR OVER 100 MILES. NUMEROUS TREES DOWN...SOME TWISTED... IN AN AREA ALONG HIGHWAY 80 BETWEEN GENEVA AND TALBOTTON.
21:22 UTCTSTM WND DMGCarsonvilleTaylor, GATREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ACROSS THE COUNTY.
21:25 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Ssw SilvertownUpson, GATREES SNAPPED AND POWER LINES DOWNED AT EMMAUS CHURCH RD AND MILL RACE RD.
21:25 UTCTSTM WND DMGThomastonUpson, GATREES AND POWERLINES DOWN ACROSS THE COUNTY.
21:27 UTCTSTM WND DMGDelrayUpson, GAA HOME WAS DAMAGED BY A FALLING TREE AT ADAMS RD AND DELRAY RD.
21:27 UTCTORNADODelrayUpson, GATHIS IS A CONTINUATION OF THE TORNADO THAT FORMED IN ALABAMA AND MOVED INTO STEWART COUNTY AND NORTHEAST FOR OVER 100 MILES. A HOME WAS DAMAGED BY A FALLING TREE AT ADAMS RD AND DELRAY RD ALONG WITH MINOR DAMAGE TO OTHER
21:35 UTCTSTM WND DMGMusellaCrawford, GANUMEROUS TREES AND POWERLINES REPORTED DOWN IN CRAWFORD COUNTY.
21:40 UTCTSTM WND DMGCullodenMonroe, GAPATH OF WIND DAMAGE STARTS NEAR CULLODEN ON HWY 74 AND CONTINUES NORTHEAST. MULTIPLE TREES DOWN AND TREE TOPS SNAPPED.
21:40 UTCTORNADO2 Nne Milner CrossroadsLamar, GATHIS IS A CONTINUATION OF THE TORNADO THAT FORMED IN ALABAMA AND MOVED INTO STEWART COUNTY AND NORTHEAST FOR GREATER THAN 100 MILES. A METAL BUILDING SYSTEM HAD ITS ROOF COMPROMISED AND WALLS WERE PARTIALLY PULLED FROM T
21:40 UTCTORNADO2 Nw DyasMonroe, GAA TORNADO TRACKED FROM THE SOUTHWEST TO THE NORTHEAST ACROSS MONROE COUNTY. THE TORNADO CAUSED A BARN COLLAPSE...PEELED A ROOF OFF OF A SECOND BARN...DESTROYED A SHED AND DOWNED MULTIPLE TREES AND POWER LINES. THE TORNAD
21:50 UTCTORNADO2 Nne Milner CrossroadsLamar, GATHIS IS A CONTINUATION OF THE TORNADO THAT FORMED IN ALABAMA AND MOVED INTO STEWART COUNTY AND NORTHEAST FOR GREATER THAN 100 MILES. A METAL BUILDING SYSTEM HAD ITS ROOF COMPROMISED AND WALLS WERE PARTIALLY PULLED FROM T

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2014 tornado in GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of November 23, 2014

9 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 2311:35 AM CSTEF0Greene, AL2.0150
November 232:03 PM CSTEF1Stewart, AL to GA16.7400$25,000
November 233:27 PM ESTEF1Stewart, GA0.5100$5,000
November 233:37 PM ESTEF1Chattahoochee, GA21.175$33,000
November 234:20 PM ESTEF0Upson, GA11.0200$45,000
November 234:40 PM ESTEF0Lamar, GA1.470$10,000
November 234:40 PM ESTEF1Monroe, GA20.070$30,000
November 234:49 PM ESTEF1Lamar, GA21.6100$32,000
November 235:10 PM ESTEF1Houston, GA6.450$55,000

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.