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FEBRUARY 2000 VOLUME 42 NUMBER 2 STORM STORDATA M DATA AND UNUSUAL WEATHER PHENOMENA WITH LATE REPORTS AND CORRECTIONS NATIONAL OCEANIC AND NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE, NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA CENTER noaa ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION DATA AND INFORMATION SERVICE ASHEVILLE, NC Cover: During the early morning hours of February 14, an F3 tornado destroyed this mobile home manufacturing plant 2 miles south of Camilla, Georgia. Nineteen fatalities and 202 injuries occurred. See page 4 for details. (Photograph courtesy of Bob Goree, Warning Coordination Meteorologist, National Weather Service, Tallahassee, Florida) TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Outstanding Storms of the Month ……..…………………..……………..……………..……………..… 4 Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena ....………..…………..…..……………..……………..… 6 Reference Notes ……………..……………..……………..……………..……………..……………..… 121 STORM DATA (ISSN 0039-1972) National Climatic Data Center Editor: Stephen Del Greco Assistant Editor: Stuart Hinson STORM DATA is prepared, and distributed by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena narratives and Hurricane/Tropical Storm summaries are prepared by the National Weather Service. Monthly and annual statistics and summaries of tornado and lightning events resulting in deaths, injuries, and damage are compiled by the National Climatic Data Center and the National Weather Service's (NWS) Storm Prediction Center. STORM DATA contains all confirmed information on storms available to our staff at the time of publication. Late reports and corrections will be printed in each edition. Except for limited editing to correct grammatical errors, the data in Storm Data are published as received. Note: "None Reported" means that no severe weather occurred and "Not Received" means that no reports were received for this region at the time of printing. Subscription, pricing, and ordering information is available from: National Climatic Data Center 151 Patton Avenue Asheville, NC 28801 (828) 271-4800 or (828) CLIMATE The editors of STORM DATA solicit your help in acquiring photographs (prints or slides; black and white, or color), maps, clippings, etc. of significant or severe weather events (past or present) for use in the "Outstanding Storms of the Month'' section of STORM DATA. We request our subscribers or other interested persons to mail such items to: Storm Data National Climatic Data Center 151 Patton Avenue Asheville, NC 28801 Any such items received by the editor will be for use in STORM DATA only. Any other use will be with the permission of the owner of said items. Materials will be returned if requested. This is an official publication of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and is compiled from information received at the National Climatic Data Center Asheville, North Carolina 28801-2733. Thomas R. Karl Director, National Climatic Data Center 2 February 2000 Confirmed Tornadoes 3 F Scale F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 Total 1 F0 Number 36 16 2 2 0 0 56 OUTSTANDING STORMS OF THE MONTH 1. SEVERAL TORNADOES TOUCH DOWN IN SOUTHWEST GEORGIA Six tornadoes are reported between the evening hours of February 13 and into the early morning hours of February 14, resulting in 19 fatalities and 202 injuries. Property damage is estimated near $30 million with $5 million in agricultural losses. One tornado touched down at 11:42 P.M. CST near Camilla, GA, moving through two subdivisions and four mobile home parks, killing 11 people and injuring 175. One tornado moved through Grady, Thomas and Mitchell Counties between the hours of 12:49 A.M. and 1:02 A.M. CST, killing seven people and injuring 16. Another tornado moved through Colquitt and Tift Counties between1:39 A.M. and 1:48 A.M. CST, causing one fatality and 11 injuries. Seventeen of the 19 fatalities occurred in mobile homes. Left:A map of the Mitchell County F3 tornado track that passed just south of the town of Camilla, GA. All 11 fatalities occurred in a mobile home park. (Tornado track maps courtesy of Irv Watson, Science Operations Officer, National Weather Service, Tallahassee, FL) Right:An aerial view of the mobile home park destroyed by the F3 tornado, in Mitchell County, just south of Camilla, GA. Two hundred homes were destroyed and 250 damaged. (Photograph courtesy of Irv Watson, Science Operations Officer, National Weather Service, Tallahassee, FL) (Special thanks to Mike Jamski, Meteorologist, National Weather Service, Tallahassee, FL for contributing to this story) 4 Left: A map of the F3 tornado track as it passes just west and north of Meigs, GA. The location and number of fatalities are shown in the circles. Below:The Grady County F3 tornado destroyed this microwave relay tower just north of Meigs, GA. (Photograph courtesy of Irv Watson, Science Operations Officer, National Weather Service, Tallahassee, FL) Above: This truck was rolled several times by the Grady County F3 tornado. (Photograph courtesy of Bob Goree, Warning Coordination Meteorologist, National Weather Service, Tallahassee, FL) Right: A map of the Colquitt - Tift County F2 tornado damage path. One fatality and eleven injuries occurred just south of Omega, GA. 5 Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena Time Path Path Number of Estimated February 2000 Local/ Length Width Persons Damage Location Date Standard (Miles) (Yards) Killed Injured Property Crops Character of Storm ALABAMA, North Central ALZ044 Montgomery 06 0500CST 0 0 0 0 Extreme Cold A new record low temperature of 20 degrees was measured at Dannelly Field. Colbert County Tuscumbia 12 0330CST 0 0 2K 0 Hail (1.00) Dime to quarter size hail fell in Tuscumbia. Limestone County 12 W Athens 12 0337CST 0 0 0 0 Hail (0.75) Dime size hail was reported in Coxey. Limestone County Cairo 12 0338CST 0 0 0 0 Hail (0.75) Dime size hail fell in the Cairo area. Limestone County Ripley 12 0340CST 0 0 0 0 Hail (0.75) Dime size hail was reported in Ripley. Madison County 4 SW New Market 12 0400CST 0 0 0 0 Hail (0.75) Dime size hail fell in Deposit. Montgomery County 1.5 SW Ada to 13 1500CST 11.4 300 0 0 100K 0 Tornado (F1) 10.1 NE Ada 1517CST This was the first of three tornadoes produced by the same supercell thunderstorm. The tornado moved across southern Montgomery County and produced an 11.4 mile track and was rated an F1. The tornado began about 300 PM just southwest of Ada, and tracked to the northeast. It lifted about 1 mile west of US 231, southwest of Teasleys Mill around 317 PM. The tornado crossed CR 70 several times near the Davis Crossroads community. Some of the most intense damage was a mile or two southwest of Davis Crossroads, where the Ramer Manufacturing Plant sustained considerable damage. Several homes and mobile homes sustained damage along the path of the tornado, and hundreds of trees were snapped or uprooted. At times, the tornado path was 300 yards wide. A portion of the tornado was caught on video by a local television meteorologist. The tornado was accompanied by nickel size hail. No injuries were reported. Beginning: 32 04.788/86 18.621 Ending: 32 08.741/86 07.950 Montgomery County Montgomery 13 1510CST 0 0 25K 0 Hail (2.75) Montgomery County Montgomery 13 1510CST 0 0 15K 0 Thunderstorm Wind (G60) Baseball size hail was reported near Montgomery. Several power lines were blown down in the same area and one trailer was flipped over. Montgomery County 3.1 NNW Downing to 13 1530CST 1 100 0 0 3K 0 Tornado (F0) 3.8 NNE Downing 1532CST Bullock County 5 SW Mitchell to 13 1532CST 2 100 0 0 15K 0 Tornado (F0) 3.1 SW Mitchell 1535CST The second of three tornadoes produced by the same supercell thunderstorm began in extreme east central Montgomery County near the town of Panther. The 3 mile path apparently began around 330 PM just west of Panther and crossed CR 36 moving into northwest Bullock County near the Piney Grove Church. The tornado crossed CR 37 near the Mt. Zion Church area and then dissipated around 335 PM. There were numerous trees snapped or uprooted along the 100 yard wide track. Beginning: 32 11.206/86 00.841 Ending: 32 12.741/85 58.371 Bullock County 1 NNW Fitzpatrick to 13 1542CST 1 50 0 0 10K 0 Tornado (F0) 2.7 NNE Fitzpatrick 1543CST The third of three tornadoes produced by the same supercell thunderstorm occurred just north of Fitzpatrick. The tornado track was about 1 mile long and 50 yards wide. The tornado crossed CR 7 about 2 miles north of Fitzpatrick. Several trees were uprooted or damaged. Beginning: 32 14.698/85 53.916 Ending: 32 15.155/85 52.937 Lee County 6 S Opelika 13 1640CST 0 0 0 0 Hail (0.75) Dime size hail was reported in Beauregard. Lee County 6 SSE Opelika 13 1644CST 0 0 0 0 Hail (0.88) Nickel size hail was reported near the intersection of CR 166 and CR 146 near Parker Crossroads. Lee County Opelika 13 1648CST 0 0 0 0 Hail (1.00) Quarter size hail fell in Opelika. 1 6 Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena Time Path Path Number of Estimated February 2000 Local/ Length Width Persons Damage Location Date Standard (Miles) (Yards) Killed Injured Property Crops Character of Storm ALABAMA, North Central Lee County Salem 13 1656CST 0 0 0 0 Hail (0.75) Dime size hail fell in Salem. Lauderdale County Killen 13 1809CST 0 0 20K 0 Thunderstorm Wind (G55) Numerous trees and power lines were blown down near Killen. Lauderdale County Rogersville 13 1815CST 0 0 20K 0 Thunderstorm Wind (G55) Numerous trees and power lines were knocked down in the Rogersville area.