Tornadoes · United States · Georgia · 2021

EF1 tornado, Spence Field, Georgia, December 30, 2021

This EF1 tornado ran 3.8 miles across Colquitt County on December 30, 2021, touching down at 3:16 PM EST and reaching 150 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $100,000 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 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
December 30, 2021
Touchdown
3:16 PM EST (20:16 UTC)
Lifted
3:24 PM EST (20:24 UTC)
On the ground
8 minutes
Path length
3.8 miles (6.1 km)
Path width
150 yards (137 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$100,000
County
Colquitt County
Touchdown point
31.109, -83.729
Lift-off point
31.118, -83.666
Record number
2112301416-01

The damage survey

56 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 105 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

Scattered thunderstorms ahead of a cold front produced sporadic wind damage and a couple of tornadoes across the tri-state area. Most of the damage occurred in Georgia with tornadoes touching down in Colquitt and Cook counties.

The tornado touched down December 30 off of Culbertson Road, west of Hopewell Church Road and initially uprooted and snapped multiple trees. The tornado continued to track northeast and resulted in roof and siding damage to several homes and buildings. In addition, multiple small outbuildings were destroyed and a camper rolled over. After it moved east of State Highway 133, the tornado tore much of the roof off of a single family home. The tornado continued east and eventually lifted near Sardis Church Road. In total, the tornado was on the ground for approximately 3.86 miles. An NWS survey determined the tornado was an EF-1 with maximum winds of 105 mph.

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

The warnings

12 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:04 UTC, 12 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:45 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:02 UTC21:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAE
20:04 UTC20:45 UTCTornado WarningTAE
20:57 UTC21:24 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 Marginal Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:56 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

8.3 hours before the tornado, 98 km from the path. December 30, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2021-12-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 850 joules per kilogram, CIN -4, lifted condensation level 526 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 2021-12-30The 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 175 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 38 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
850 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1169 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
526 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
175 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
186 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
3.9
0-3 km lapse rate
4.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

3.7 hours after it, 98 km from the path. December 31, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 00:00Z on 2021-12-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1232 joules per kilogram, CIN -5, lifted condensation level 669 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 2021-12-31The 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 113 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 37 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
1232 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1697 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
669 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
113 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
137 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
3.5
0-3 km lapse rate
5.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Moultrie (MGR), 11 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
18:35 UTC7768190° 11 kt171014.9VCTS
18:55 UTC80.668190° 13 kt171014.6
19:15 UTC78.868190° 9 kt191013.9VCTS
19:35 UTC7768210° 9 kt181014.6TS
19:55 UTC7769.8150° 10 kt1013.2TS
20:15 UTC73.468220° 4 kt211014.2-TSRA
20:35 UTC71.668300° 4 kt1014.9+TSRA
20:55 UTC69.8680° 0 kt1014.6+TSRA
21:15 UTC6868110° 4 kt1014.6+VCTSRA
21:35 UTC68680° 0 kt1014.6+RA
21:55 UTC69.8680° 0 kt1014.6-TSRA
22:15 UTC69.8680° 0 kt1014.6

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Moody AFB radar (KVAX), 71 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:16 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
20:11 UTCTSTM WND DMGMoultrieColquitt, GAA FEW TREES REPORTED DOWN IN MOULTRIE.
20:19 UTCTORNADO2 Ssw Spence AirportColquitt, GATORNADO CONFIRMED ON THE GROUND SOUTH OF SPENCE FIELD. DAMAGE TO AT LEAST 3 RESIDENCES IN THE AREA. TIME CONFIRMED BY TDS SIGNATURE ON RADAR.
21:00 UTCTSTM WND DMGAdelCook, GATREES DOWN AND SOME DEBRIS IN ROADWAYS IN THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN PART OF THE COUNTY.
21:02 UTCTORNADO2 Sw MasseeCook, GASTRUCTURAL DAMAGE REPORTED IN EASTERN COOK COUNTY WEST OF SR-76.
21:03 UTCTORNADO2 Sw MasseeCook, GANUMEROUS TREES REPORTED DOWN IN EASTERN COOK COUNTY. RADAR CONFIRMED TORNADO VIA TDS FROM KVAX RADAR.

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 December 30, 2021

3 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 304:03 PM ESTEF1Cook, GA2.2150$100,000
December 304:32 PM ESTEF1Jeff Davis, GA11.7300
December 306:09 PM ESTEF0Pulaski, GA10.1200

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.