EF0 tornado, Rock Hill to Sawhatchee, Georgia, April 24, 2021

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 24, 2021

Touchdown

9:01 AM EDT (13:01 UTC)

Lifted

9:02 AM EDT (13:02 UTC)

On the ground

1 minutes

Path length

4.4 miles (7.1 km)

Path width

75 yards (69 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Early County

Touchdown point

31.259, -85.034

Lift-off point

31.267, -84.959

Record number

2104240701-01

Multiple rounds of strong to severe storms affected the region on April 24th. Tornadoes, large hail (some to 2 inches in diameter), and widespread damaging winds occurred. The multiple rounds also caused rainfall amounts in excess of 6 inches in some locations across the tri-state region, resulting in flash flooding.

The tornado touched down near Howard Landing Road in western Early County. There was minor damage to a mobile home near Jack Wright Road. An outbuilding and camper were destroyed at this location. Extensive tree damage was observed at a home along Highway 39. Roof damage was also noted at this location. The tornado continued eastward, causing sporadic tree damage before dissipating at N. Main Street in Blakely. The damage rating of EF1 with max winds estimated at 95 mph was based on the extensive tree damage and minor damage to homes.

An EF0 tornado with max winds estimated at 80 mph touched down between Old Cedar Springs Road and County Road 26 in southwestern Early County. Sporadic tree damage was observed north of Big Pine Road and along Cedar Springs Road. The tornado dissipated near Fryer Road. Rating is based on sporadic tree damage and minimal structural impacts.

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

13 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 12:48 UTC, 13 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 13:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 10:22 UTC and running to 19:00 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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Enhanced Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 12:56 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 Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 49 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 13:02 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 2021 tornado in GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are

5 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.