EF2 tornado, Bellville to Dickey, Georgia, April 7, 2016

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 mphthis tornado

   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

EF2

Date

April 7, 2016

Touchdown

2:40 AM EDT (06:40 UTC)

Lifted

3:05 AM EDT (07:05 UTC)

On the ground

25 minutes

Path length

15.8 miles (25.4 km)

Path width

250 yards (229 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

5

Property damage

$150,000

Counties

Clay, Randolph and Calhoun counties

Touchdown point

31.622, -84.889

Lift-off point

31.565, -84.630

Record number

1604070040-01

22 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TAE, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 135 mph.

• unit on blocks not strapped down. many trees snapped
• tree uprooted and clipped a mobile home
• exterior brick walls collapsed and large section of roof removed uprooted large trees near the residence. debris blown 100-200 yards
• numerous healthy trees snapped here, house was sort of sheltered by the trees, likely on high end of DOD near EF2

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

Although most of the severe weather during the late night to early morning hours of April 6-7 stayed north of the tri-state area, an isolated storm did produce an EF2 tornado across Calhoun county with some injuries reported.

This tornado initially touched down in extreme southern Randolph county before moving into Clay county and eventually Calhoun county. Damage in Clay county was limited to snapped trees. The Clay county portion of this track was rated EF1.

The combination of dual-polarization radar data and the damage survey show that the tornado initially touched down very close to the Clay/Randolph County line west of US Highway 27. The tornado then continued on a continuous path for nearly 16 miles across much of northwestern Calhoun County. Initial damage northwest of Edison, GA in northwestern Calhoun County was largely limited to downed or snapped trees. As the tornado neared Georgia Highway 216, there was an area of more concentrated damage along Magnolia Road. Two single wide mobile homes were destroyed at this location along with numerous snapped pine trees. Damage in this area was consistent with EF-1 damage or a maximum wind of around 100-105 mph. For the following four miles of the track, damage was once again limited to mostly downed or snapped trees. More significant damage occurred east of the Ichawaynochaway Creek north of Georgia Highway 37 near Dickey, GA. On Country Club Road, a single family residence was damaged, with a portion of the exterior brick wall collapsed, large sections of the roof removed, and debris blown 100-200 yards from the structure. Large trees near the residence were uprooted or snapped. Across the road, a double wide mobile home had some sections of walls and roof removed, and it was blown off its foundation by a couple feet. Additional large, healthy trees were snapped and uprooted at that location. Damage in this area was consistent with high end EF-1 to low end EF-2 damage, with a maximum wind of 110-120 mph. Even more significant damage occurred further east along the Dickey Bypass. Numerous trees in this area were snapped and uprooted. Along the south side of the road, a double-wide mobile home was completely obliterated with debris blown across the road about 50 yards or more into a tree line. This mobile home was strapped and anchored to the ground in several locations, with the anchors sticking into the ground approximately a foot. The mobile home frame separated completely and wrapped around a nearby tree. Numerous hardwood trees near the home were snapped. Damage at this location was the most intense along the track of this tornado and was consistent with strong EF-2 damage, with a maximum wind of 125 to 130 mph. Analysis of the damage patterns suggests that this mobile home may have been hit by a subvortex in the tornado, as debris was blown across the path of the tornado to the north. Most of the debris along the rest of the path tended to be blown in a more easterly direction. Just to the east of that residence, another house was damaged, with a small portion of the roof removed. The residents stated that the roof had separated from the walls, but set down again in a slightly different location. Almost all the pine trees near this house were snapped. The tree damage continued to the east for about another mile, with a medium sized shed or outbuilding also destroyed near the end of the tornado path. Total damage cost was estimated.

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

6 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 06:34 UTC, 6 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 07:00 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 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.

Blakely (BIJ), 25 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 68 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 06:41 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 2016 tornado in GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are

4 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.