PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
639 PM EST SUN MAR 4 2012
...PRELIMINARY STORM SURVEY RESULTS INDICATE MAXIMUM EF3 DAMAGE
WITH LOWNDES/LANIER COUNTY TORNADO...
A SURVEY TEAM FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TALLAHASSEE
SURVEYED THE REPORTED DAMAGE IN EXTREME NORTHEAST LOWNDES COUNTY
INTO LANIER COUNTY, GEORGIA. THIS DAMAGE WAS DETERMINED TO BE
CAUSED BY A TORNADO. HERE ARE SOME OF THE PRELIMINARY STATISTICS:
* EVENT DATE: MARCH 3, 2012
* EVENT TYPE: EF3 TORNADO
* ESTIMATED PEAK WINDS (MPH): 140 MPH
* INJURIES/FATALITIES: NONE REPORTED
* MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH: 1/4 MILE
* DAMAGE PATH LENGTH: 11.2 MILES
* EVENT START TIME: 12:56PM EST
* EVENT END TIME: 1:10PM EST
* EVENT START LOCATION: 31.00/-83.25
* EVENT END LOCATION: 31.04/-83.07
BASED ON OUR GROUND SURVEY, AND FROM TALKING TO AN AERIAL SURVEY
TEAM FROM GEORGIA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, THIS DAMAGE PATH WAS
NEARLY CONTINUOUS FROM WHERE THE TORNADO FIRST BEGAN NEAR CAT
CREEK ROAD IN LOWNDES COUNTY, TO WHERE IT DISSIPATED SHORTLY AFTER
AFFECTING THE HOSPITAL AND NURSING HOME IN THE TOWN OF LAKELAND.
THE BULK OF THE DAMAGE WAS IN THE EF1 RANGE WITH CONSISTENT
POCKETS OF EF2 DAMAGE ALONG THE PATH. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE,
IN GENERAL, WAS NEAR THE LOWNDES/LANIER COUNTY BORDER. AT THAT
POINT THE DAMAGE PATH WAS APPROXIMATELY ONE-QUARTER MILE WIDE.
THE TORNADO PROBABLY REACHED MAXIMUM INTENSITY JUST INTO LANIER
COUNTY. AT THAT SPECIFIC LOCATION, SOME LARGE TREES WERE ALMOST
TOTALLY DEBARKED AND A MOBILE HOME WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED WITH
DEBRIS STREWN WELL DOWNSTREAM. SOME MISSILES, INCLUDING BRANCHES,
METAL BARS, AND GUTTERS WERE FOUND TO BE DRIVEN INTO THE GROUND TO
A DEPTH OF 2 FEET. THE DOOR OF A CHEST FREEZER WAS RIPPED OFF WITH
THE BODY OF THE FREEZER FOUND SEVERAL HUNDRED YARDS DOWNSTREAM. THE
TORNADO PROBABLY IMPACTED THIS LOCATION AROUND 1:03PM EST.
$$
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