Tornadoes · United States · Georgia · 2022

EF1 tornado, Adrian to Blundale, Georgia, April 6, 2022

Name: EF1 tornado, Adrian to Blundale, Georgia, April 6, 2022
Start: 2022-04-07T00:22:00.000Z
End: 2022-04-07T00:39:00.000Z
Location: Adrian to Blundale, Georgia

From Adrian to Blundale, this EF1 tornado ran 15.8 miles across Emanuel County on April 6, 2022, touching down at 8:22 PM EDT and reaching 500 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 6, 2022
Touchdown: 8:22 PM EDT (00:22 UTC)
Lifted: 8:39 PM EDT (00:39 UTC)
On the ground: 17 minutes
Path length: 15.8 miles (25.4 km)
Path width: 500 yards (457 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
County: Emanuel County
Touchdown point: 32.553, -82.573
Lift-off point: 32.602, -82.308
Record number: 2204061822-01

The damage survey

17 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS FFC, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 105 mph.

no nails or anchor bolts observed with carport
dozens of trees snapped from EM
Unanchored small outbuilding
several broken or leaning wood poles

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 multi-day severe weather outbreak initiated with a warm moist air mass situated over Georgia as a strengthening upper level system pushed across central Georgia. With moderate instability in place with increased shear, combined to create numerous severe thunderstorms, taking the form of a quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) with several strong supercells ahead of the front. The resulting front stalled across central Georgia and interacted with a weaker shortwave moving up from the Gulf of Mexico, serving as a catalyst for another day of severe weather and flash flooding on April 6th.

A fast-moving QLCS produced a long tracked tornado|starting just north of Adrian near Meeks Rd south of Ohopee Rd|downing trees and continued north of due-east nearly paralleling|a line just north of US80. Along Odomville Church Rd west of|US221, numerous trees were snapped, some falling on homes. The|tornado weakened some then intensified as it crossed Cow Ford|Bridge Rd snapping or uprooting 50-100 trees over a wide swath.|The tornado weakened as it traveled into rural areas north of and|near US80. Some trees were downed near Woodstock Rd and US80 and|again along Overstreet Rd just north of US80. The tornado|broadened and strengthened a bit as it entered Swainsboro (just|27 hours after another tornado went through this same area) east|and southeast of the Swainsboro Golf and Country Club near McLeod|Bridge Rd, Oaklawn Dr and Kite Rd, downing numerous trees and|power lines. Further east a home on Lucky St had roof damage from|a tree falling on it. The tornado traveled into the Lake Luck|area downing a power pole and a few trees near Fortune Loop Dr|and Prosperity Dr. A 24ft camper was destroyed by an uprooted|tree nearby on Prosperity Dr. Damage immediately east of this|area was much weaker and limited to a few tree limbs after which|the tornado lifted. [4/6/22: Tornado #6, County #1/1, EF-1, Emanuel, 2022:026].

Continuation from Johnson County -- The tornado continued east-northeast and destroyed two large open barns and other outbuildings on Jr Claxton Rd near the Johnson-Emanuel county line. After this point the tornado weakened and downed several trees as it crossed Price William Rd and eventually lifted just east of Pinetucky Rd. [4/6/22: Tornado #5, County #2/2, EF-0, Johnson/Emanuel, 2022:025].

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

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Atlanta, GA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Apr 6, 5:41 PM EDT, 2 hours 41 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 6, 5:41 PM EDT, 2 hours 41 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 6, 5:01 AM EDT, 15 hours 21 minutes before

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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 6, 6:53 PM EDT, 1 hour 29 minutes before

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Local storm report, Apr 6, 7:17 PM EDT, 1 hour 5 minutes before

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Special weather statement, Apr 6, 7:17 PM EDT, 1 hour 5 minutes before

Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Peachtree City GA
717 PM EDT Wed Apr 6 2022

GAZ002>004-011-062345-
Chattooga GA-Whitfield GA-Catoosa GA-Walker GA-
717 PM EDT Wed Apr 6 2022

...Strong thunderstorms will impact portions of southern Catoosa,
central Whitfield, southeastern Walker and Chattooga Counties through
745 PM EDT...

At 717 PM EDT, a line of strong thunderstorms was along a line
extending from Blue Spring to near Desoto State Park, and moving east
at 25 mph.

HAZARD...Up to 40 mph wind, pea sized hail and frequent cloud to
         ground lightning.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Expect minor damage to tree limbs and blowing around of
         light, unsecured objects.

Locations impacted include...
Dalton, Lafayette, Summerville, Ringgold, Trion, Varnell, Tunnel
Hill, Lyerly, Menlo, Naomi, Center Post, Subligna, Suttles Mill,
Noble, Wood Station, Rocky Face, Mill Creek, Beaumont, Villanow and
Cloudland.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

People outdoors should seek shelter immediately. If you can hear
thunder, you are close enough to be struck by lightning.

A Tornado Watch remains in effect until 1000 PM EDT for northwestern
Georgia.

&&

LAT...LON 3490 8519 3489 8488 3467 8504 3448 8521
      3431 8543 3434 8547 3457 8552
TIME...MOT...LOC 2317Z 284DEG 23KT 3486 8523 3445 8563

MAX HAIL SIZE...0.25 IN
MAX WIND GUST...40 MPH

Special weather statement, Apr 6, 7:32 PM EDT, 50 minutes before

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Special weather statement, Apr 6, 7:44 PM EDT, 38 minutes before

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Special weather statement, Apr 6, 7:46 PM EDT, 36 minutes before

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The surface observations

Swainsboro (SBO), 7 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
00:00 UTC

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

The radar

The Robins AFB radar (KJGX), 86 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:19 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.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2022 tornado in Georgia Every tornado in Georgia since 1950 Warnings in force in Georgia now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 6, 2022

12 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 6	3:29 PM EDT	EF1	Lee, GA	3.4	100	$100,000
April 6	5:23 PM EDT	EF0	Palm Beach, FL	0.6	100	$153,000
April 6	7:14 PM EDT	EF0	Brooks, GA	11.1	200
April 6	7:45 PM EDT	EF0	Bleckley, GA	3.6	100
April 6	7:52 PM EDT	EF1	Laurens, GA	4.9	150
April 6	7:53 PM EDT	EF1	Laurens, GA	16.4	200
April 6	8:22 PM EDT	EF1	Johnson, GA	8.4	500
April 6	8:39 PM EDT	EF1	Bleckley, GA	11.4	150
April 6	9:12 PM EDT	EF1	Thomas, GA	7.9	300	$60,000
April 6	10:59 PM EDT	EF0	Colleton, SC	1.0	100
April 6	11:17 PM EDT	Unrated	Colquitt, GA	10.6	25
April 6	11:36 PM EDT	EF1	Thomas, GA	1.6	200	$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.