EF2 tornado, Rowena to Oak Hill, Georgia, January 9, 2024

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 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF2

Date

January 9, 2024

Touchdown

9:46 AM EST (14:46 UTC)

Lifted

10:07 AM EST (15:07 UTC)

On the ground

21 minutes

Path length

21.7 miles (35.0 km)

Path width

800 yards (732 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$376,000

Counties

Early and Calhoun counties

Touchdown point

31.378, -84.728

Lift-off point

31.605, -84.476

Record number

2401090846-01

70 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TAE, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 120 mph.

• Unreinforced cinder block construction.

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

A high impact severe weather event impacted the tri-state region on January 9th with supercells producing tornadoes, large hail, and damaging wind gusts, followed by a major squall line with widespread wind damage and additional tornadoes. Preceding this activity, very strong non-thunderstorm wind gusts of 40-60 mph occurred, with even a gust to 70 mph at the Albany airport. There were 14 tornadoes confirmed across the tri-state region, including 3 EF0s, 5 EF1s, 5 EF2s, and 1 EF3. This activity was driven by a deepening area of low pressure west of the region with a record strong low level jet crossing the region. The winds at 850 mb were in in the 65-80 knot range, and sufficient instability existed to support mixing some of these very strong environmental winds to the surface.

The tornado touched down in a heavily wooded area along Daniels road in Early County causing minor damage to trees. The tornado travelled north and intensified as it crossed agricultural fields and Clower Road where it toppled several center pivot irrigation systems. An unreinforced concrete block home was also destroyed along this road in Early county, consistent with an EF-2 rating. EF-2 damage was also noted just to the northeast along Highway 45 where two homes were badly damaged. An older two story home was shifted off its foundation several feet. Another newer brick home suffered significant roof damage. The intensity peaked at this location with an estimated maximum wind speed of 120 mph. Tree damage continued along the track to the northeast across Highway 216 and Nantze Spring Road before the tornado moved into Calhoun County. The tornado continued through wooded portions of Calhoun County, causing EF-1 consistent damage to trees. Damage was also noted to a railroad crossing gate along State Road 82. The tornado continued northeast through Calhoun County across Boggy Creek Road and Highway 37. The tornado crossed Highway 234 causing roof damage to a home before damaging a double-wide manufactured home on County Road 120. The tornado dissipated in a rural area just northeast of Highway 55. Thanks to Early and Calhoun County Emergency Management for assistance with this survey. In Early county, seven buildings were damaged for a total market loss of $326,523. This consisted of six single family homes and one mobile home.

This is a continuation of the EF2 tornado from Early county. The Calhoun county portion of the track is rated as EF1. The tornado touched down in a heavily wooded area along Daniels road in Early County causing minor damage to trees. The tornado travelled north and intensified as it crossed agricultural fields and Clower Road where it toppled several center pivot irrigation systems. An unreinforced concrete block home was also destroyed along this road in Early county, consistent with an EF-2 rating. EF-2 damage was also noted just to the northeast along Highway 45 where two homes were badly damaged. An older two story home was shifted off its foundation several feet. Another newer brick home suffered significant roof damage. The intensity peaked at this location with an estimated maximum wind speed of 120 mph. Tree damage continued along the track to the northeast across Highway 216 and Nantze Spring Road before the tornado moved into Calhoun County. The tornado continued through wooded portions of Calhoun County, causing EF-1 consistent damage to trees. Damage was also noted to a railroad crossing gate along State Road 82. The tornado continued northeast through Calhoun County across Boggy Creek Road and Highway 37. The tornado crossed Highway 234 causing roof damage to a home before damaging a double-wide manufactured home on County Road 120. The tornado dissipated in a rural area just northeast of Highway 55. Thanks to Early and Calhoun County Emergency Management for assistance with this survey.

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

10 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 14:36 UTC, 10 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 14:59 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 12:08 UTC and running to 16:40 UTC.

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 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 12:58 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 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.

Blakely (BIJ), 30 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 81 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 14:43 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2024 tornado in GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are

31 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.