EF0 tornado, Birdsong Xrds to Weldons Crossing, Georgia, November 23, 2014

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.

Rating

EF0

Date

November 23, 2014

Touchdown

4:20 PM EST (21:20 UTC)

Lifted

4:36 PM EST (21:36 UTC)

On the ground

16 minutes

Path length

11.0 miles (17.7 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$45,000

Counties

Upson and Lamar counties

Touchdown point

32.895, -84.350

Lift-off point

33.020, -84.234

Record number

1411231520-01

8 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 100 mph.

• very little damage as it crossed the highway

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

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-2 tornado, with maximum wind speeds of 130 MPH, touched down in Upson County on the west side of Thomaston around the intersection of State Highway 74 and W. Main Street. The tornado tracked northeast around 8.5 miles mile before crossing into Lamar County near north of Mud Bridge Road and Rocky bottom Road. Numerous hardwood and softwood trees were uprooted or snapped along the path of the tornado. The tornado reached its peak intensity northwest of Thomaston where it moved through a residential subdivision at Del Ray Road and Tyler Lane. A small residential leasing office was destroyed at this location with the exterior walls blown away. [11/23/14: Tornado #5, County #1-2, EF2, Upson-Lamar, 2014:022].

A NWS storm survey team found that the tornado that touched down in Upson County crossed into Lamar County southwest of Barnesville. The tornado, EF-0 in strength with maximum wind speeds of 85 MPH, tracked northeast nearly 2.5 miles mile before lifting along the Little Potato Creek north of Perdue Road. Numerous hardwood and softwood trees were uprooted or snapped along the path of the tornado. [11/23/14: Tornado #5, County #2-2, EF2, Upson-Lamar, 2014:022].

A NWS storm survey team found that an EF-0 tornado, with maximum wind speeds of 82 MPH, touched down in Lamar County south of Milner near old Milner Road and Cannafax Road. The tornado tracked northeast for almost 1.5 miles before lifting near Deerfield Trace. The tornado caused mainly damage to trees with numerous hardwood and softwood trees snapped and uprooted. A metal building on Old Milner Road had roof and wall panels blown off. [11/23/14: Tornado #7, County #1-1, EF0, Lamar, 2014:024].

A NWS storm survey team found that an EF-1 tornado, with maximum wind speeds of 100 MPH, touched down in Lamar County near the intersection of State Highway 36 and High Falls Park Road. The tornado tracked northeast nearly 4.5 miles before crossing into Butts County along Bucksnort Road just west of Interstate Highway 75. The tornado caused mainly damage to trees with numerous hardwood and softwood trees snapped or uprooted. [11/23/14: Tornado #8, County #1-3, EF1, Lamar-Butts-Newton, 2014:025].

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

19 minutes of warning. NWS FFC issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:01 UTC, 19 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:30 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 Marginal Risk. 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 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.

Thomaston (OPN), 3 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 52 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:22 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 2014 tornado in GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are

9 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.