EF2 tornado, Brooks to Cooktown, Georgia, April 3, 2017

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 3, 2017

Touchdown

2:03 PM EDT (18:03 UTC)

Lifted

2:13 PM EDT (18:13 UTC)

On the ground

10 minutes

Path length

3.3 miles (5.2 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$100,000

County

Wilkinson County

Touchdown point

32.859, -83.373

Lift-off point

32.882, -83.324

Record number

1704031203-01

3 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS FFC, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 88 mph.

• food mart and another structure with collapsed roof and other damage. vehicle totaled in front
• at least 4 trees snapped in this area

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

A strong short wave and associated surface low swept through the southern and eastern U.S. and combined with moderate instability and strong shear resulted in widespread severe weather, including numerous tornadoes, across north and central Georgia from late morning through the afternoon.

A National Weather Service survey team found that an EF2 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 115 MPH and a maximum path width of 200 yards developed southwest of the town of Gordon near the intersection of Highway 57 and Mission Farm Road. The tornado travelled northeast crossing Highway 18 as it entered the community of Gordon. The tornado turned east and quickly strengthened to EF2 strength as it moved|through the Gordon community. Several small business structures were severely damaged and large trees within a local community park area were uprooted as the tornado moved east along Paper Mill Road. The tornado lifted after moving through the local park. This thunderstorm would later produce an EF0 tornado several miles east as it moved north of McIntyre. No injuries were reported. [04/03/17: Tornado # 19, County #1/1, EF-2, Wilkinson, 2017:051].

A National Weather Service survey team found that an EF1 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 90 MPH and a maximum path width of 150 yards moved east from Twiggs County into Wilkinson County west of Tarpley Road. The Tornado weakened somewhat but still snapped or uprooted a few trees. After crossing Old Macon Road the tornado ended along Knightpond Road where it briefly intensified and uprooted a few large oak trees. No injuries were reported. [04/03/17: Tornado #20, County #2/2, EF-1, Twiggs, Wilkinson, 2017:052].

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

3 minutes of warning. NWS FFC issued a tornado warning for this county at 18:00 UTC, 3 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 18:45 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 14:50 UTC and running to 18:07 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:21 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.

The Robins AFB radar (KJGX), 22 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:03 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 2017 tornado in GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are

39 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.