Tornadoes · United States · Georgia · 2022
EF1 tornado, Centerville to Cuba, Georgia, April 5, 2022
From Centerville to Cuba, this EF1 tornado ran 4.9 miles across Early County on April 5, 2022, touching down at 3:15 PM EDT and reaching 50 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.
EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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 5, 2022
- Touchdown
- 3:15 PM EDT (19:15 UTC)
- Lifted
- 3:21 PM EDT (19:21 UTC)
- On the ground
- 6 minutes
- Path length
- 4.9 miles (7.9 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Early County
- Touchdown point
- 31.296, -84.910
- Lift-off point
- 31.319, -84.831
- Record number
- 2204051315-01
The damage survey
13 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 90 mph.
- Loss of metal roofing over shingles.
- Large number of pines snapped.
- EM mentioned several trees were uprooted or snapped half way up along Sandy Bottom Road, and that they were already cleared from the area.
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 slow moving cold front brought multiple rounds of severe weather to the tri-state region from April 5-7. Several tornadoes occurred along with numerous reports of wind damage and a few reports of large hail. None of the tornadoes were rated stronger than EF1.
A tornado touched down in a stand of trees across a field from Old Lucile road. It continued to uproot several trees in front of the houses along Old Lucile road, as well as lifting part of a metal roof on a small house. The tornado continued eastward towards Three Notch road into Miller county where a live oak tree was uprooted, and a couple large pine trees were snapped halfway up. The tornado again continued east where a couple outbuildings and trees were blown down along Cooper Loop, Cannon road, and Charlie Tiner road. The tornado then lifted before it would have crossed US highway 27. This tornado was rated EF1 with maximum estimated winds around 90 mph. A dual-pol tornadic debris signature (TDS) was evident on KEOX radar.
A tornado touched down in a field along Three Notch road. It snapped and uprooted several large pine trees along the edge of the field. The tornado then uprooted and snapped several large live oak trees at a residence along the intersection of US highway 27 and Taylor Harris road. The tornado moved towards Sandy Bottom road where a few pine trees were snapped or uprooted. This tornado was rated an EF1 with maximum estimated winds around 90 mph. A dual-pol tornadic debris signature (TDS) was evident on KEOX radar.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
0 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:15 UTC, 0 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 19:37 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 16:05 UTC and running to 20:20 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06:21 UTC | 07:11 UTC | Flood Watch | TAE |
| 16:05 UTC | 20:20 UTC | Tornado Watch | TAE |
| 18:14 UTC | 19:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE |
| 19:07 UTC | 20:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE |
| 19:15 UTC | 19:37 UTC | Tornado Warning | TAE |
| 19:22 UTC | 19:41 UTC | Tornado Warning | TAE |
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 16:29 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
7.3 hours before the tornado, 115 km from the path. April 5, 2022.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 596 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -100 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 21 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 680 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 26 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 211 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 303 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 4.6
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.4 K/km
Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), 00:00Z
4.7 hours after it, 115 km from the path. April 6, 2022.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -39976 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 557 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 52 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -166 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -56 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.0 K/km
The radar
The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 58 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:16 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18:58 UTC | TSTM WND GST 42 | Decatur Co A/P | Decatur, GA | MESONET STATION TT665 BAINBRIDGE REPORTED A WIND GUST OF 42 MPH. |
| 19:08 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Wnw Centerville | Early, GA | TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN SOUTH OF BLAKELY ON GA HIGHWAY 39 IN EARLY COUNTY. ESTIMATED TIME AT 3:08PM. POSSIBLE TORNADO. |
| 19:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Ene Hentown | Early, GA | TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN AROUND 16480 DAMASCUS-HILTON ROAD IN EARLY COUNTY. ESTIMATED TIME AT 3:15PM. POSSIBLE TORNADO. |
| 19:15 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Nnw Centerville | Early, GA | EF1 CONFIRMED BY STORM SURVEY. |
| 19:15 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Wsw Centerville | Early, GA | EF1 CONFIRMED BY STORM SURVEY. |
| 19:17 UTC | TORNADO | 1 Sse Centerville | Early, GA | VIDEO FROM A STORM CHASER NEAR CENTERVILLE CLEARLY SHOWED A TORNADO ON THE GROUND. STRENGTH UNKNOWN. EOX RADAR DETECTED A WELL-DEFINED TORNADIC DEBRIS SIGNATURE STARTING AT 312 PM SOUTHEAST OF SAWHATCHEE. |
| 19:19 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 E Centerville | Early, GA | POSSIBLE TORNADO. ROOF TORN OFF A LEAN-TO HOUSE. A BARN WAS FLATTENED. ABOUT 50 YARDS NORTH OF THE MILLER COUNTY LINE. |
| 19:23 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Ne Mayhaw | Miller, GA | A TREE WAS BLOWN DOWN ON WOMBLE ROAD |
| 19:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Mimsville | Baker, GA | 40 TREES REPORTED DOWN ACROSS A LARGE SWATH OF BAKER COUNTY. |
| 19:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Colquitt | Miller, GA | WIRES WERE BLOWN DOWN IN THE COLQUITT AREA |
| 19:51 UTC | TORNADO | 4 N Newton | Baker, GA | TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED A TORNADO VIA SPOTTERNETWORK WITH TREES SNAPPED IN THE AREA |
| 19:59 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | 6 Nw Camilla | Mitchell, GA | UGA WEATHER NETWORK STATION AT CAMILLA REPORTED A 59.6 MPH GUST |
| 20:22 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Bainbridge | Decatur, GA | TREE FELL ON AN OCCUPIED VEHICLE ON SHARPE STREET AT SCOTT STREET. POWER LINES DOWN. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2022 tornado in GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of April 5, 2022
66 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 5 | 3:45 AM CDT | EF1 | Lincoln Parish, LA | 5.1 | 150 | $10,000 | ||
| April 5 | 6:46 AM CDT | EF1 | Scott, MS | 7.6 | 100 | $40,000 | ||
| April 5 | 7:00 AM CDT | EF1 | Scott, MS | 4.7 | 300 | $25,000 | ||
| April 5 | 7:06 AM CDT | EF1 | Jefferson Davis, MS | 3.1 | 100 | $40,000 | ||
| April 5 | 7:09 AM CDT | EF1 | Scott, MS | 2.1 | 100 | $25,000 | ||
| April 5 | 7:09 AM CDT | EF2 | Jefferson Davis, MS | 14.8 | 400 | $150,000 | ||
| April 5 | 7:16 AM CDT | EF1 | Newton, MS | 4.0 | 100 | $75,000 | ||
| April 5 | 7:22 AM CDT | EF1 | Covington, MS | 16.5 | 440 | $81,000 | ||
| April 5 | 7:56 AM CDT | EF1 | Jones, MS | 8.6 | 250 | $50,000 | ||
| April 5 | 8:06 AM CDT | EF1 | Clarke, MS | 2.9 | 250 | $150,000 | ||
| April 5 | 8:14 AM CDT | EF2 | Wayne, MS | 2.2 | 250 | |||
| April 5 | 8:18 AM CDT | EF0 | Lauderdale, MS | 2.5 | 25 | $30,000 | ||
| April 5 | 8:19 AM CDT | EF1 | Wayne, MS | 2.6 | 100 | |||
| April 5 | 8:36 AM CDT | EF1 | Wayne, MS | 0.3 | 50 | |||
| April 5 | 9:03 AM CDT | EF2 | Clarke, AL | 9.5 | 800 | |||
| April 5 | 9:10 AM CDT | EF1 | Clarke, AL | 1.8 | 100 | |||
| April 5 | 10:10 AM CDT | EF1 | Monroe, AL | 1.5 | 75 | |||
| April 5 | 10:54 AM CDT | EF2 | Elmore, AL | 4.4 | 900 | |||
| April 5 | 10:56 AM CDT | EF2 | Crenshaw, AL | 1.3 | 250 | |||
| April 5 | 11:03 AM CDT | EF2 | Pike, AL | 12.7 | 1,100 | |||
| April 5 | 11:06 AM CDT | EF0 | Elmore, AL | 5.3 | 300 | |||
| April 5 | 11:19 AM CDT | EF1 | Macon, AL | 4.3 | 250 | |||
| April 5 | 11:20 AM CDT | Unrated | Crenshaw, AL | 0.4 | 25 | |||
| April 5 | 11:22 AM CDT | EF0 | Tallapoosa, AL | 1.8 | 110 | |||
| April 5 | 11:34 AM CDT | EF1 | Pike, AL | 7.6 | 550 | |||
| April 5 | 11:45 AM CDT | EF0 | Chambers, AL | 0.4 | 200 | |||
| April 5 | 11:50 AM CDT | EF1 | Bullock, AL | 1.6 | 600 | |||
| April 5 | 12:38 PM CDT | EF1 | Barbour, AL | 1.5 | 200 | |||
| April 5 | 2:04 PM EDT | EF1 | Chattahoochee, GA | 6.7 | 300 | |||
| April 5 | 1:24 PM CDT | EF0 | Henry, AL | 2.8 | 50 | |||
| April 5 | 2:29 PM EDT | EF1 | Taylor, GA | 3.0 | 150 | |||
| April 5 | 1:38 PM CDT | EF0 | Houston, AL | 6.8 | 200 | $150,000 | ||
| April 5 | 1:39 PM CDT | EF1 | Geneva, AL | 0.2 | 50 | $3,000 | ||
| April 5 | 2:50 PM EDT | EF1 | Taylor, GA | 7.2 | 300 | |||
| April 5 | 1:53 PM CDT | EF0 | Houston, AL | 0.1 | 25 | $50,000 | ||
| April 5 | 3:01 PM EDT | EF1 | Macon, GA | 17.3 | 250 | |||
| April 5 | 3:07 PM EDT | EF1 | Crawford, GA | 8.8 | 200 | |||
| April 5 | 3:15 PM EDT | EF1 | Early, GA | 7.1 | 50 | $50,000 | ||
| April 5 | 3:26 PM EDT | EF2 | Dooly, GA | 5.8 | 300 | |||
| April 5 | 3:33 PM EDT | EF1 | Bibb, GA | 2.0 | 100 | |||
| April 5 | 3:49 PM EDT | EF3 | Houston, GA | 3.9 | 820 | 3 | ||
| April 5 | 3:50 PM EDT | EF3 | Allendale, SC | 13.3 | 1,000 | 1 | ||
| April 5 | 3:51 PM EDT | EF0 | Baker, GA | 0.6 | 25 | |||
| April 5 | 4:01 PM EDT | EF0 | Baldwin, GA | 1.7 | 150 | |||
| April 5 | 4:11 PM EDT | EF1 | Twiggs, GA | 12.3 | 400 | |||
| April 5 | 4:12 PM EDT | EF1 | Mitchell, GA | 8.1 | 50 | $100,000 | ||
| April 5 | 4:14 PM EDT | EF1 | Bleckley, GA | 7.6 | 125 | |||
| April 5 | 4:18 PM EDT | EF1 | Bamberg, SC | 3.7 | 250 | |||
| April 5 | 4:20 PM EDT | EF0 | Wilcox, GA | 9.4 | 200 | |||
| April 5 | 4:39 PM EDT | EF0 | Bamberg, SC | 2.4 | 200 | |||
| April 5 | 4:53 PM EDT | EF0 | Orangeburg, SC | 1.0 | 50 | |||
| April 5 | 5:07 PM EDT | EF0 | Orangeburg, SC | 0.8 | 200 | |||
| April 5 | 5:10 PM EDT | EF0 | Treutlen, GA | 0.9 | 100 | |||
| April 5 | 5:17 PM EDT | EF1 | Treutlen, GA | 0.8 | 200 | |||
| April 5 | 5:18 PM EDT | EF4 | Pembroke–Black Creek tornado, GA | 14.4 | 1,300 | 1 | 12 | |
| April 5 | 5:22 PM EDT | EF1 | Emanuel, GA | 6.2 | 150 | |||
| April 5 | 5:27 PM EDT | EF0 | Emanuel, GA | 0.7 | 50 | |||
| April 5 | 5:35 PM EDT | EF2 | Lexington, SC | 5.7 | 100 | 1 | ||
| April 5 | 6:03 PM EDT | EF1 | Allendale, SC | 1.3 | 100 | |||
| April 5 | 6:03 PM EDT | EF3 | Allendale, SC | 34.5 | 500 |
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.