May 4, 2019 - Chatham County EF-1 Tornado

An EF2 rated tornado tracked 2.22 miles across Whitemarsh/Wilmington Islands on May 4, 2019.
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
629 PM EDT SUN MAY 5 2019

...NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR MAY 4 2019 TORNADO EVENT...

.WHITEMARSH/WILMINGTON ISLAND TORNADO...

START LOCATION...1 WNW TURNERS ROCK IN CHATHAM COUNTY GA
END LOCATION...WILMINGTON ISLAND IN CHATHAM COUNTY GA
DATE...05/04/2019
ESTIMATED TIME...4:53 PM EDT
MAXIMUM EF-SCALE RATING...EF1
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED...105 MPH
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH...170 YARDS
PATH LENGTH...2.22 MILES
BEGINNING LAT/LON...32.0197 / -81.0184
ENDING LAT/LON...32.0152 / -80.9812
* FATALITIES...0
* INJURIES...1

...SUMMARY...
THE TORNADO BEGAN OVER THE WILMINGTON RIVER, JUST WEST OF THE 
SAVANNAH YACHT CLUB ON WHITEMARSH ISLAND. IT DEVELOPED RAPIDLY AS 
IT HIT THE SAVANNAH YACHT CLUB. AT THE TIME THE TORNADO STRUCK, A 
BOAT WAS BEING LIFTED BY A CRANE AT THE DOCK. THIS BOAT WAS THROWN
FROM THE CRANE BACK INTO THE WATER. THE BOAT CRANE WAS ALSO 
PUSHED BY THE WINDS OF THE TORNADO OFF OF ITS TRACK, WHICH CAUSED 
IT TO CRASH INTO A SMALL BUILDING NEAR THE CRANE. THIS SMALL 
BUILDING SUSTAINED SIGNIFICANT ROOF DAMAGE. ONE PERSON WAS 
REPORTEDLY INJURED INSIDE THE BUILDING, BUT THE EXTENT OF THEIR 
INJURIES WAS UNKNOWN AT THE TIME OF THIS REPORT. THE TORNADO 
CONTINUED MOVING EAST-SOUTHEAST, SNAPPING AND UPROOTING SEVERAL 
TREES IN A RESIDENTIAL AREA NEAR THE END OF BRADLEY CREEK DRIVE. 
ONE HOME IN THAT AREA ALSO HAD MINOR ROOF DAMAGE DUE TO MISSING 
SHINGLES. FROM THIS POINT, THE TORNADO STRENGTHENED AS IT MOVED 
SOUTHEAST OVER BRADLEY CREEK AND ACROSS PORTIONS OF TURNERS ROCK 
ROAD. THIS WAS THE REGION WHERE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE WAS 
FOUND, WITH AT LEAST TWO DOZEN LARGE HARD AND SOFTWOOD TREES 
EITHER SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. WIND SPEEDS IN THIS AREA WERE 
ESTIMATED TO BE BETWEEN 100 AND 105 MPH. THE TORNADO THEN WEAKENED
AS IT MOVED ON A MORE EASTERLY PATH ACROSS TURNER CREEK AND ONTO 
THE WESTERN EDGE OF WILMINGTON ISLAND, JUST SOUTH OF JOHNNY MERCER
BOULEVARD. THE TORNADO BROKE SOME TREE LIMBS AND BRANCHES AROUND 
WALGREENS, THEN DAMAGED A SIGN NEAR THE AUTOPLEX AS IT CROSSED 
JOHNNY MERCER BOULEVARD. ONCE ACROSS JOHNNY MERCER BOULEVARD, THE 
WEAKENING TORNADO SKIPPED OVER MOLLY MCGUIRE'S RESTAURANT, FINALLY
ENDING AT AT 4:57 PM EDT IN THE EMPTY LOT JUST EAST OF THE 
GOODWILL STORE. THE ROOF ON THE GOODWILL STORE SUSTAINED MINOR 
DAMAGE.

EF SCALE: THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO THE
FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:

EF0...WEAK......65 TO 85 MPH
EF1...WEAK......86 TO 110 MPH
EF2...STRONG....111 TO 135 MPH
EF3...STRONG....136 TO 165 MPH
EF4...VIOLENT...166 TO 200 MPH
EF5...VIOLENT...>200 MPH

* THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO
CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT AND PUBLICATION IN NWS
STORM DATA.

$$
May 4, 2019 - Chatham County Tornado