Tornadoes · United States · Georgia · 2021

EF1 tornado, Doverel, Georgia, April 24, 2021

This EF1 tornado ran 0.9 miles across Terrell County on April 24, 2021, touching down at 9:30 AM EDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

    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
EF1
Date
April 24, 2021
Touchdown
9:30 AM EDT (13:30 UTC)
Lifted
9:31 AM EDT (13:31 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.9 miles (1.5 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Terrell County
Touchdown point
31.706, -84.520
Lift-off point
31.701, -84.506
Record number
2104240730-01

The damage survey

8 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TAE, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 94 mph.

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

What the Weather Service recorded

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.

This tornado touched down on Doverel Highway and snapped a few trees. It then moved over an open field before doing extensive tree damage to a property on Herod Dover Road. Several large trees were snapped or uprooted on the property and fell in many different directions. The tornado damaged a few more trees a short distance down the road from this property before lifting. Damage was consistent with an EF1 rating.

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.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 10:22 UTC and running to 19:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
05:45 UTC03:34 UTCFlash Flood WatchTAE
10:22 UTC19:00 UTCTornado WatchTAE
12:00 UTC00:00 UTCWind AdvisoryTAE
12:40 UTC13:48 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAE
13:28 UTC13:46 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAE
20:00 UTC02:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchTAE
22:37 UTC23:15 UTCTornado WarningTAE
23:02 UTC23:14 UTCTornado WarningTAE
23:05 UTC23:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAE
23:38 UTC00:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAE
00:01 UTC00:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAE
00:30 UTC01:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAE
00:37 UTC01:16 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAE

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 forecast that day

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 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.

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), 12:00Z

1.5 hours before the tornado, 146 km from the path. April 24, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2021-04-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 175 joules per kilogram, CIN -61, lifted condensation level 544 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2021-04-24The 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 447 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 64 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
175 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-61 J/kg
Surface CAPE
124 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
544 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
447 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
570 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.7
0-3 km lapse rate
4.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), 00:00Z

10.5 hours after it, 146 km from the path. April 25, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 00:00Z on 2021-04-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2012 joules per kilogram, CIN -1, lifted condensation level 697 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 00:00Z on 2021-04-25The 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 293 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 61 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
2012 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2789 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
697 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
293 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
374 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
4.7
Supercell composite
19.4
0-3 km lapse rate
5.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 94 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 13:29 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
13:15 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 S Fort GainesClay, GATREES WITH POWER LINES ON 39 N, 39 S, AND 37E IN CLAY COUNTY.
13:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGFort GainesClay, GATREES AND POWER LINES DOWN.
13:29 UTCTSTM WND DMGBlakelyEarly, GAMULTIPLE TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN AROUND 26256 HWY 39.
13:30 UTCTORNADODoverelTerrell, GAEF1 TORNADO CONFIRMED BY STORM SURVEY.
13:42 UTCHAIL 1.751 N NewtonBaker, GA
13:45 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Se StocksLee, GASTOCKS DAIRY IS CLOSED DUE TO STORM DAMAGE. TREES DOWN, ROOFS BLOWN OFF.
13:45 UTCTSTM WND DMGDoverelTerrell, GALINE OF TWISTED AND BROKEN TREES RUNNING FOR ABOUT 1/2 MILE. HOUSE HAD A LARGE TREE DROPPED THROUGH MIDDLE. NO INJURIES.
14:19 UTCTSTM WND DMGAlbanyDougherty, GAIN DOUGHERTY COUNTY, TREES DOWN OFF GILLIONVILLE NEAR ASU WEST CAMPUS. ALSO REPORT OF DEBRIS ALONG SYLVESTER ROAD PAST MOCK ROAD IN DOUGHERTY COUNTY.
16:05 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Nw BlakelyEarly, GANUMEROUS TREES DOWN ALONG GA HIGHWAY 39.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2021 tornado in GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 24, 2021

5 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 247:50 AM CDTEF1Henry, AL4.11502$100,000
April 247:51 AM CDTEF0Houston, AL0.4100$25,000
April 248:59 AM EDTEF1Early, GA7.0150$75,000
April 249:01 AM EDTEF0Early, GA4.475
April 249:03 PM EDTEF2Coffee, GA8.2360

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.