Storm Damage Report for Dooly County's Good Friday Tornado

Good Friday (4/10/2009) was an interesting day for those of us with interests in south Georgia weather. On Saturday, I found evidence of an EF-1 tornado in Dooly County, GA.

My brother and parents were in Auburn, AL for an awards ceremony and left the university just before it was impacted by a tornadic thunderstorm. It literally chased them to Columbus, Ellaville, and into Vienna. I kept them updated with the "don't slow down or stop for anything but a quick $10 of gas" phrase and location of the storm (in their rear-view mirror). Not long (maybe 15 minutes) after arriving at home in eastern Dooly County, they experienced a near-miss with the tornadic t'storm passing just a few miles off to their south.

I did a damage survey of my parents' farm and the surrounding area of eastern Dooly County (about 5 miles from Vienna exit, off I-75) on Saturday. Selected pictures are attached, below. Minimal (barely visible) damage occurred to the family farm, namely mature trees pushed over and a handful of shinlges are missing (<1%).

The majority of damage occurred along and near Parham Road, and ran due east to GA Highway 257. We found three homes with moderate damage, mostly shingles being removed. The majority of the damage was EF-0 level (dependent on the Damage Indicators; see the EF-Scale description via NWS and TTU); however, one home suffered 30% shingle removal paired with hundreds of nearby trees snapped and pushed over towards the east. This is more likely EF-1, with expected winds up to 110mph.

A more formal damage asssessment was submitted to the NWS Peachtree City office and WFXL-TV.

Gibson Ridge Software & the Atlanta Tornado

A nice write-up of Gibson Ridge Software in the March 22nd, 2008 edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (click on the title to read the full article).

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2008/03/21/tornadotech_0322.html

Mike gets all the credit for developing the software, but on the GRS Owner's Forum he credits "all of us" who have helped him develop and make better the GRS products.

A tragedy in Atlanta, yes, but there's a great story (about Mike & GRS) behind it all.

Read for yourself,

Jay Reid

Possible tornado in Florida

Just before midnight on Wednesday a possible tornado touched down in downtown Milton, damaging 11 businesses, three mobile homes, one house, and at least one automobile.

Read about it here and here.

The NWS Tallahassee was scheduled to do a storm survey today. Brigade member Dew was scheduled to be visiting the Talahassee NWS this weekend. Maybe she can give us an update on this later.

Hot in the South; Tornadoes in the Midwest

While we are enjoying sauna-like conditions here in the sunny South, our friends and neighbors in the Chicagoland area are photographing tornadoes. Sunday evening a small twister struck a Chicago suburb, Romeoville. WGN's Tom Skilling posted some photos here.

Tornado in Galveston

Check out the video from ABC 13. Now why couldn't this have happened last month at this time when I was there?!

Canadian tornado

AP Photo

Manitoba Twister was a Possible F4
Sean Connolly
Saturday, June 23, 2007

Environment Canada meteorologists believe the twister that hit Elie, Manitoba on Friday was an F4 - one of the most violent twisters possible.

The tornado destroyed at least four homes in the small Manitoba town of 1000, and had wind speeds of up to 417 kilometres per hour.

There were no injuries or fatalities reported.

Follow up on "Odd Ball Event"

I posted here the other day about a weird experience I had seeing a wall cloud. There was no lightning, no watch, and no warning. Conditions were not classic for tornado formation by any means. Well guess what? The NWS Huntsville has confirmed that an F0 tornado occurred a few miles west of where I spotted what I now believe was a wall cloud. I probably dropped the ball by not reporting it but in my disbelief I decided to wait on it and it dissipated into the rest of the clouds. Check this out:


PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 610 PM CDT TUE JUN 19 2007


..NWS CONDUCTS STORM SURVEY IN TRINITY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS AND MORGAN COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT CONDUCTED A STORM SURVEY FOR DAMAGE IN THE CITY OF TRINITY THIS AFTERNOON. THE DAMAGE OCCURRED WITH A LINE OF SHOWERS THAT MOVED THROUGH THE TRINITY AREA AT APPROXIMATELY 1100 AM CDT.


THE SURVEY FOUND EVIDENCE OF A TORNADO...RATED EF-0...WITH HIGHEST ESTIMATED WINDS OF 65 MPH. THE TORNADO WAS APPROXIMATELY 25 YARDS WIDE...WITH A PATH LENGTH OF ONE-QUARTER MILE. THE DAMAGE WAS CONFINED MOSTLY TO UPROOTED TREES AND SNAPPED LIMBS. ONE RESIDENCE SUSTAINED SOME DAMAGE...MAINLY TO SHEDS AND FENCING AT THE BACK OF THE PROPERTY.


OF NOTE...THE STORM THAT SPAWNED THE TORNADO WAS VOID OF LIGHTNING ACTIVITY. THEREFORE...THE STORM IS CLASSIFIED AS A SHOWER AND NOT A THUNDERSTORM. PHOTOGRAPHS AND MAPS OF THE DAMAGE WILL BE POSTED ON THE NWS HUNTSVILLE WEBSITE...WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/HUN...BY 1100 AM CDT WEDNESDAY. COYNE/NADLER/RAMOS

Huntsville NWS Meteorologist Andy Kula, on talkweather.com, referred to this as "one of those odd ball event that warrants further study." It just goes to show that sometimes we get all hyped up for major outbreaks that do not happen and other times we miss all the action because things pop up unexpectedly. Expect the unexpected!

Wisconsin Tornado

On June 7 an EF-3 tornado struck Central and Northeast Wisconsin. NASA captured this satellite image of the twister's track through the woods. This is where you should have been Dew!

Alive and kickin' at 10pm ET

Tornado-chaser Dew and the gang are in/near Brown County, NE. Quick development of powerful line of storms. Showing eTVS and TVS icons on GRS Level 3 and MDA icon on Level 2.

Long-lasting 'Nader at 730pmET

Still, a Tornado Warning remains active for this pesky cell. Dew and the gang still in the neighborhood. Haven't heard from our newly initiated "twister sister" (not trying to violate copyright or trademark laws) in awhile. Either she is out collecting National Geographic-quality video and pictures (that she will surely share) or she's been clobbered on the head by falling hail. Either way, here' s the 730pm ET snap of the KUDX, Rapid City, SD radar.

Georgia on this date...

My friend (and weather legend) J.B. Elliot posted the following today:

* 1953 on this date is when a tornado struck Warner-Robbins AFB at Macon killing 18 people. A very memorable video came out of that event. It showed a building being lifted completely into the air and then disintegrated.

* 82,000 is how many acres burned by the wild fires in South Georgia (2 separate fires) as of today. Reports are that the fires are 70% contained but they may not be totally contailed till it rains. Northerly winds blew some of the smoke as far south as Orlando over the weekend.

Last weekend's tornadoes

NWS Atlanta Storm Survey - In the predawn hours of Sunday April 15, 2007 severe thunderstorms moved across Central Georgia, producing damage across a number of counties - generally in a swath from Crisp County to Emanuel County. Much of this damage was produced by several tornadoes. There have been reports that more than one person was injured during the event. The National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, GA is in the process of surveying the damage and collecting damage reports. Check back for updates as the reports are processed and surveys completed over the next few days.


NWS confirms tornadoes in Sunday's storms - Macon Telegraph
(exerpt)

At least eight tornadoes swept through Middle Georgia as part of the storm system that caused millions of dollars worth of damage across the state early Sunday.

The National Weather Service determined two twisters hit Dodge County, including a tornado that struck businesses along U.S. 23 and ripped the press box from the stands at the Dodge County High School football field. That tornado touched down at 1:23 a.m. and ran about eight minutes over a four-mile path about 100 yards wide. That storm had a maximum wind speed of about 80 mph and downed numerous trees and power lines on homes, the weather service reported.

Dodge County schools Superintendent Aubrey Corbitt said he was out of town when the storm rumbled through, but there's no doubt in his mind a tornado is to blame for the damage at the football field and for ripping the roof off the old gym.

"I'd definitely agree that's what happened," he said. "It did a lot of damage."

Corbitt said the school already was under renovation and no students were displaced by the damage.

He said he's already met with insurance adjusters.

Tonight's event in Texas

Interesting pic someone took of a tornado near Fort Worth, Texas earlier this evening (found it on a wx forum).

From the AP...

DALLAS -- A storm moving across North Texas on Friday injured at least one person and caused significant damage to buildings in and around Fort Worth.

At least one person was reported injured in Fort Worth, said police spokesman Lt. Dean Sullivan. A man was transported to a hospital, and his condition was not immediately available.The storm damaged a grocery store roof and some businesses in an industrial park area, Sullivan said.Television news footage showed storm damage in an industrial park in Haltom City that knocked about a dozen tractor-trailers on their sides. The Valley Missionary Baptist Church there was destroyed.

A National Weather Service meteorologist said there was almost certainly one tornado that touched down in Tarrant County. Trained storm spotters saw what was likely another tornado in northern Dallas County.

"There is some scattered damage and some of it is rather significant," meteorologist Alan Moller said.The storm forced the cancellation of NASCAR Nextel Cup qualifying races at Texas Motor Speedway amid reports of tornadoes in the region.Thousands of fans who showed up to watch qualifying were advised to move to safety as tornado sirens blared at the speedway in Fort Worth.Storms also canceled a series of promotional events, including a Cheap Trick concert and appearances by race car drivers, in downtown Fort Worth.
A tornado was spotted near Bedford, a suburb in between Dallas and Forth Worth, according to the National Weather Service.

More reports from East Alabama

Seale [Russell Co, AL] emergency mgr reports funnel cloud at 06:39 PM CDT -- located in the city

4 N Seale [Russell Co, AL] emergency mgr reports egg size hail (2.00") at 06:37 PM CDT

12 S Phenix City [Russell Co, AL] airplane pilot reports baseball hail (2.75") at 06:48 PM CDT -- in ft. mitchell hwy 144 / hwy 165

Cell moving into GA from Russell co. maxed out at 75dbz - 06:56 PM CDT

12 S Phenix City [Russell Co, AL] public reports grapefruit hail (4.00") at 06:53 PM CDT --

Cherokee, AL Co EMA reports 4 inch hail that did some damage....7:08 PM CDT

Smiths Station [Lee Co, AL] public reports funnel cloud at 06:58 PM CDT -- from ema by public

Reports from SE Alabama

5:26 CDT - E Wetumpka [Elmore Co, AL] amateur radio reports beseball sized hail (2.75") at 05:26 PM CDT -- frienship community

5:30 CDT - Dadeville [Tallapoosa Co, AL] trained spotter reports tornado at 05:30 PM CDT -- on the ground hwys 280 and cnty 49