Tornadoes · United States · Georgia · 2016

EF0 tornado, Weston to Centerpoint, Georgia, April 7, 2016

From Weston to Centerpoint, this EF0 tornado ran 5.1 miles across Webster County on April 7, 2016, touching down at 2:27 AM EDT and reaching 300 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $30,000 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
April 7, 2016
Touchdown
2:27 AM EDT (06:27 UTC)
Lifted
2:37 AM EDT (06:37 UTC)
On the ground
10 minutes
Path length
5.1 miles (8.2 km)
Path width
300 yards (274 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$30,000
County
Webster County
Touchdown point
31.989, -84.598
Lift-off point
31.973, -84.513
Record number
1604070027-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A line of strong to severe thunderstorms swept across North Georgia during the evening of April 6th into the early morning hours of the 7th ahead of a strong cold front. Although instability was somewhat limited, strong low-level and deep layer shear helped to produce numerous reports of large hail and very strong, damaging winds across North Georgia. Despite an overall weakening of the storms as they moved into Central Georgia, a few reports of damaging winds and two brief, weak tornadoes occurred in West Central Georgia.

The Webster County EMS/Fire Department found damage along a 5.1 mile long, 300 yard wide path from an EF-0 tornado. Maximum wind speeds were estimated at 80 MPH. The path stretched from just northeast of Weston along State Highway 41 to around the intersection of East Centerpoint Road and County Road 24. Numerous trees were uprooted or snapped along this path. Along County Road 26, minor roof damage occurred on two houses and the skirting along the bottom of a manufactured home was ripped off. A small shed was destroyed along East Centerpoint road. No injuries were reported. [04/07/16: Tornado #2, County #1-1, EF0, Webster, 2016:006].

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
05:49 UTC06:16 UTCTornado WarningFFC

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 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), 00:00Z

6.5 hours before the tornado, 155 km from the path. April 7, 2016.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 2016-04-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 6 joules per kilogram, CIN -38, lifted condensation level 1454 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 2016-04-07The 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 266 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 64 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
6 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-38 J/kg
Surface CAPE
101 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1454 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
266 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
418 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1
0-3 km lapse rate
7.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

5.5 hours after it, 155 km from the path. April 7, 2016.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2016-04-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -102872, lifted condensation level 1167 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2016-04-07The 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 99 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 65 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-102872 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1167 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
65 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
99 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
151 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 103 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 06:29 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
05:55 UTCTORNADOProvidence Canyon StateStewart, GAPROVIDENCE CANYON STATE PARK REPORTED NUMEROUS TREES DOWN ALONG A PATH SEVERAL HUNDRED YARDS LONG OVER THE NORTH SIDE OF THE PARK. DAMAGE LINES UP WITH RADAR-DETECTED CIRCULATION FROM KMXX. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
05:58 UTCTORNADOProvidence Canyon StateStewart, GAPROVIDENCE CANYON STATE PARK REPORTED NUMEROUS TREES DOWN ALONG A PATH SEVERAL HUNDRED YARDS LONG OVER THE NORTH SIDE OF THE PARK. DAMAGE LINES UP WITH RADAR-DETECTED CIRCULATION FROM KMXX. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
06:27 UTCTORNADO1 Ne WestonWebster, GAAN EF-0 TORNADO TRACKED EAST-SOUTHEAST ACROSS SOUTHERN WEBSTER COUNTY. DAMAGE WAS SEEN ALONG PATH FROM GA-HWY 41...JUST NORTHEAST OF THE TOWN OF WESTON...TO NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF EAST CENTERPOINT ROAD AND COUNTY ROAD
06:55 UTCTORNADO1 N EdisonCalhoun, GA*** 4 INJ *** 2 TRAILERS AT A TRAILER PARK JUST NORTH OF EDISON OVERTURNED WITH 3 TO 4 MINOR INJURIES.
07:00 UTCTORNADODickeyCalhoun, GA*** 2 INJ *** TRAILER DESTROYED IN DICKEY WITH 2 PEOPLE SERIOUSLY INJURED.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2016 tornado in GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 7, 2016

4 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 72:40 AM EDTEF2Clay, GA15.82505$150,000
April 75:51 AM EDTEF0Pasco, FL3.150$100,000
April 76:37 AM EDTEF0Pinellas, FL0.150$5,000
April 76:55 AM EDTEF0Pinellas, FL0.850$100,000

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.