EF0 tornado, Cooktown to Chappells Mill, Georgia, April 3, 2017

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

April 3, 2017

Touchdown

2:26 PM EDT (18:26 UTC)

Lifted

2:39 PM EDT (18:39 UTC)

On the ground

13 minutes

Path length

6.6 miles (10.6 km)

Path width

150 yards (137 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$30,000

Counties

Wilkinson and Laurens counties

Touchdown point

32.667, -83.124

Lift-off point

32.682, -83.013

Record number

1704031226-01

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 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].

A National Weather Service survey team found an EF0 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 80 MPH and a maximum path width of 150 yards touched down in southern Wilkinson county along Quinn Williams Road just north of Highway 112. This weak|tornado snapped or uprooted several trees as it moved east crossing US Highway 441 and South Sandy Creek before crossing into Laurens County. No injuries were reported. [04/03/17: Tornado #23, County #1/2, EF-0, Wilkinson, Laurens, 2017:055].

A National Weather Service survey team found that an EF1 tornado briefly touched down in east central Wilkinson County near the intersections of Poplar Springs Church Road, Highway 112 and Club Drive. A single-wide trailer was shifted off its foundation with two people at home at the time. No injuries were reported. Another trailer had some loss of shingles and a collapsed carport. There were also nearby trees snapped. [04/03/17: Tornado #24, County #1/1, EF-1, Wilkinson, 2017:056].

A National Weather Service survey team found an EF0 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 80 MPH and a maximum path width of 150 yards moved east from Wilkinson County into Laurens County west of Wendell Dixon Road. The tornado crossed Wendell Dixon road and snapped or uprooted trees before ending around the intersection of Old Toomsboro Road and Oconee Church Road. No injuries were reported. [04/03/17: Tornado #23, County #2/2, EF-0, Wilkinson, Laurens, 2017:055].

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

26 minutes of warning. NWS FFC issued a tornado warning for this county at 18:00 UTC, 26 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 18:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:07 UTC and running to 22:09 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 0.05 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), 26 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:27 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.