Tornadoes · United States · Georgia · 2021

EF0 tornado, Bristol, Georgia, March 18, 2021

This EF0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Pierce County on March 18, 2021, touching down at 1:38 PM EDT and reaching 5 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 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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
March 18, 2021
Touchdown
1:38 PM EDT (17:38 UTC)
Lifted
1:40 PM EDT (17:40 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
5 yards (5 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Pierce County
Touchdown point
31.471, -82.207
Lift-off point
31.472, -82.205
Record number
2103181138-01

The damage survey

1 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS JAX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 75 mph.

  • EM and Fire Chief saw tornado briefly touch down. 4 trees downed.

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

A strong pre-frontal squall line moved across the area with isolated severe storms. Shear was 40-60 kts with surface based CAPE of 1500-2000 J/kg.

A briefed tornado touched down a couple miles north of Bristol in Pierce county on Highway 32 near June Road. Both the county EM and Fire Chief saw the touchdown. Minor wind damage occurred that included 4 trees that were blown down. Peak winds were near 75 mph.

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

The warnings

0 minutes of warning. NWS JAX issued a tornado warning for this county at 17:38 UTC, 0 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 17:47 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 15:45 UTC and running to 18:43 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
15:00 UTC21:59 UTCWind AdvisoryJAX
15:45 UTC18:43 UTCTornado WatchJAX
17:23 UTC17:53 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningJAX
17:38 UTC17:47 UTCTornado WarningJAX

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:33 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.

Jacksonville, FL (KJAX), 12:00Z

5.6 hours before the tornado, 118 km from the path. March 18, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Jacksonville, FL at 12:00Z on 2021-03-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 162 joules per kilogram, CIN -183, lifted condensation level 888 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, Jacksonville, FL at 12:00Z on 2021-03-18The 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 183 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 58 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
162 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-183 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
888 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
183 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
220 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5
0-3 km lapse rate
4.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Jacksonville, FL (KJAX), 00:00Z

6.4 hours after it, 118 km from the path. March 19, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Jacksonville, FL at 00:00Z on 2021-03-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -77832, lifted condensation level 1740 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Jacksonville, FL at 00:00Z on 2021-03-19The 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 212 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 62 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-77832 J/kg
Surface CAPE
108 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1740 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
212 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
192 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Moody AFB radar (KVAX), 100 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 17:38 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
17:38 UTCTORNADO2 Nw BristolPierce, GACORRECTS PREVIOUS TORNADO REPORT FROM 2 NW BRISTOL. EMA REPORTED TORNADO TOUCHDOWN OFF OF JUNE ROAD IN NORTHWEST PIERCE COUNTY. 4 TREES DOWNED. BRIEF TOUCHDOWN WITH EF-0 DAMAGE, ESTIMATED 75 MPH WINDS.
17:38 UTCTORNADO2 Nw BristolPierce, GAEMA REPORTED TORNADO TOUCHDOWN OFF OF JUNE ROAD IN NORTHWEST PIERCE COUNTY. SO FAR 4 TREES DOWNED. EMA IS ASSESSING FURTHER DAMAGE IN THE AREA.
18:02 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Sse LudowiciLong, GAMETAL ROOF WAS DISPLACED FROM LARGE SHED. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
18:02 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Wnw DonaldLong, GAMETAL ROOF WAS DISPLACED FROM LARGE SHED. TIME ESTIMATED FROM 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 March 18, 2021

15 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 184:08 AM CDTEF1Crenshaw, AL0.5150
March 185:27 AM CDTEF1Houston, AL5.21501$200,000
March 185:49 AM CDTEF0Houston, AL2.150$4,000
March 186:02 AM CDTEF0Washington, FL1.625
March 186:02 AM CDTEF0Bay, FL3.9100$100,000
March 186:25 AM CDTEF1Bay, FL0.450$50,000
March 187:44 AM EDTEF0Early, GA3.150
March 188:40 AM EDTEF0Liberty, FL0.025
March 188:49 AM EDTEF1Terrell, GA4.0200$20,000
March 189:06 AM EDTEF1Lee, GA10.450$250,000
March 182:46 PM EDTEF0Gilchrist, FL12.5100
March 185:01 PM EDTEF1Guilford, NC2.6500$500,000
March 185:38 PM EDTEF1Alamance, NC2.5200$1.0 million
March 186:04 PM EDTEF1Orange, NC4.3200$150,000
March 189:27 PM EDTEF0Isle of Wight, VA4.2150$100,000

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.