Tornado powerful enough to rip the bark off a tree

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Please visit Klaus, Sandy, Ivar, Wren, Louise and Fishing Guy, the team for SKY WATCH FRIDAY (click the word to link and participate!) Thanks to Dot and Tom, who were instrumental in the success of this blogging event. You should definitely come fly with us!

Over the past week, I have been discussing the impact of the tornadoes that hit south Georgia on February 19th. Grady and Thomas counties saw a significant amount of damage, first with the long tracked tornado (16.5 mile path) that reached EF2 strength near Thomasville. That tornado lifted, and a second more powerful EF3 tornado dropped no more than 25 miles away from my home. This picture is of the tree on Salem Road in Boston, Georgia that caused the National Weather Service to elevate the rating of this tornado to an EF3, estimating winds at 140-145 mph.

Enhanced Fujita Scale

You see, the winds in this tornado were so fast and powerful that they were able to rip the bark off of this tree. This same 300-400 yard tornado barely missed a home and caused significant damage to their out-buildings.

Link to Thomasville tornado damage report
Link to Boston tornado damage report
Link to slide show of damage
Link to Examiner articles

It was when my weather radio went off alerting me that something was coming that I checked the radar and saw the monstrous supercell tracking my way. That was when we took shelter in the "safe spot" in our hallway, sitting behind a mattress. This powerful and tornadic supercell tracked for over 4 hours from Alabama, into the Florida panhandle, and into Georgia, where it finally interacted with the moisture boundary and exploded into a powerfully destructive tornado. This was a frightening night for us, but not nearly as frightening as it was for those who actually were directly impacted by the tornado.

All that being said, the Storm Prediction Center has severe weather forecasted for the next 3 days, with Saturday being my big weather day, as well as most of Georgia. It starts in the central plains states today and works its way eastward in the coming days, placing me smack dab in the middle of an area of slight risk for severe weather on Saturday.Given the uncertainties in timing of Saturday's main event, the forecast is very powerfully worded.

MODELS ARE BEGINNING TO FAVOR POTENTIAL FOR AN OUTBREAK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...INCLUDING TORNADOES... SATURDAY INTO SATURDAY NIGHT OVER A LARGE PORTION OF THE SOUTHEAST...AND HAVE BEEFED UP (official weather terminology... lol) PROBABILITIES ACCORDINGLY.

EXPECT ONGOING STRONG/SEVERE ACTIVITY AT BEGINNING OF THE PERIOD. ACTIVITY WILL ALSO LIKELY INTENSIFY NEAR AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT INTO SRN GA/NRN FL AS BOUNDARY LAYER DESTABILIZES BY THE EARLY TO MID AFTERNOON. THREAT SHOULD MANIFEST ITSELF AS BOTH FAST MOVING BOW SEGMENTS AND ISOLATED TORNADIC SUPERCELLS.

A daytime outbreak in my neck of the woods, and I have CPR training and rain-checked Valentine's Day. Plus, my wonderful gtb severely sprained his ankle at work yesterday (I don't even want to get into our 5 hour ER visit...) How do you storm chase on crutches???!

The northern half of Georgia needs to keep an eye on Friday night, as the greatest threat there exists during the overnight hours...

GA FRI NIGHT/EARLY SAT: CYCLOGENESIS OCCURS OVER NRN LA. SUPPORT OVERNIGHT STRENGTHENING OF STORMS...AND POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENT OF ONE OR TWO CONVECTIVE CLUSTERS. THESE SYSTEMS SHOULD MOVE GENERALLY E...WITH EMBEDDED STORMS POSING A THREAT FOR SVR HAIL...WIND AND ISOLD TORNADOES.

I really hate night time events. Fortunately, you have a little time to run out and get that weather radio!

The Armor of God

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

~Ephesians 6:10-18

Have a lovely day!
~Dewdrop