2005 Hurricane Cindy tornado outbreak

Hurricane Cindy (2005) tornado outbreak
Collapsed building at the Atlanta Motor Speedway as a result of a tornado spawned by Cindy.
Date of tornado outbreak: July 6–8, 2005
Duration1: 1 day, 22 hours, 15 minutes
Maximum rated tornado2: F2 tornado
Tornadoes caused: 44
Damages: $78.8 million (2005 USD)
$87 million (2008 USD)
Fatalities: None reported (1 injury)
Areas affected: Southern and Eastern North America

1Time from first tornado to last tornado
2Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita Scale

The Hurricane Cindy (2005) tornado outbreak was a two-day tornado outbreak that was associated with the passage of Hurricane Cindy across the Southern United States starting on July 6, 2005 across the Gulf Coast states of Alabama and Florida as well as Georgia before ending in the Middle Atlantic Coast on July 8. The outbreak caused no fatalities and only one injury but was fairly strong as there were three F2 touchdowns due to Cindy. The hurricane itself killed three people, two in Georgia, one in Alabama.[1] Cindy produced a total of 44 tornadoes across seven states in a two day span. Just three days after Hurricane Cindy had stuck the Southeastern United States, a much stronger and deadlier storm, Hurricane Dennis, made landfall on the Florida Panhandle on July 10.

Contents


Tornado event

The outbreak began as the remnants of Cindy weakened over Louisiana. As the storm weakened, strong thunderstorms began to develop along the edges of the system in Alabama. The first tornado touched down near Semmes, Alabama at 3:00 A.M. (CST). The tornado caused roof damage to several structures as well as knocking down several trees.[2] Over the next ten hours, several F0 and two F1 tornadoes touched down in Alabama and Florida. Later on July 6, the remnants of Cindy were moving over Alabama and the activity shifted into Georgia. At 8:45 PM (EST), a large tornado touched down near the Atlanta Motor Speedway causing severe damage to the structures in the complex. The tornado then moved into an airfield where several planes and helicopters were damaged. Numerous homes were damaged or destroyed by the tornado as well. The tornado was rated F2 by the NWS.[3] The activity slowed for a short while before picking back up in early afternoon hours on July 7 as the remnants of Cindy moved through Georgia. At 2:10PM (EST) an F2 tornado touched down about seven miles south of Taylorsville, North Carolina where three buildings were damaged a mobile home was destroyed.[4] About an hour later, another F2 tornado touched down in North Carolina. It touched down about four miles north-northeast of Harmony. The tornado damaged several buildings before moving into Yadkin County where an additional 13 buildings were damaged as well as severe crop damage to the tobacco and corn farms.[5] By the nighttime hours, the activity was shifting into Virginia. Before the remnants of Cindy moved out into the Atlantic Ocean, seven F1 tornadoes touched down in Virginia. The outbreak ended early on July 8 as Cindy began to move out over the Atlantic.

Confirmed tornadoes

Confirmed
Total		 Confirmed
F0		 Confirmed
F1		 Confirmed
F2		 Confirmed
F3		 Confirmed
F4		 Confirmed
F5
44 26 15 3 0 0 0

July 6 event

List of confirmed tornadoes - Wednesday, July 6, 2005
F#
Location
County
Coord.
Time (UTC)
Path length
Damage
Alabama
F0 Semmes area Mobile 0900 1 mile (1.6 km) The first tornado of the outbreak touched down around 3:00 a.m. CST near Semmes. Along the tornado's 1 mile (1.6 km) path, a few homes and outbuildings sustained roof damage. Several trees were also knocked down by the tornado. No injuries were reported as a result of the tornado and damages amounted to $50,000.[6]
F0 Chunchula area Mobile 0953 1 mile (1.6 km) A brief tornado touched down near Chunchula, knocking down several trees and power lines. No injuries were reported as a result of the tornado and damages amounted to $20,000.[7]
F0 Leroy area Washington 1120 0.5 miles (0.8 km) A brief tornado touched down near Leroy, knocking down several trees and power lines. No injuries were reported as a result of the tornado and damages amounted to $15,000.[8]
F0 W of Walker Springs Clarke 1125 0.5 miles (0.8 km) Brief touchdown, tornado knocked down trees and power lines. Caused $15,000 in damages.
F0 Atmore area Escambia 1220 0.5 miles (0.8 km) Brief touchdown, damage was confined to trees. Caused $5,000 in damages.
F0 Watkins Bridge area Covington 1545 0.5 miles (0.8 km) Brief touchdown, tornado knocked down trees and power lines. Caused $15,000 in damages.
F0 Lockhart area Covington 1557 1 mile (1.6 km) Brief touchdown, tornado knocked down trees and power lines. Caused $15,000 in damages.
F1 N of Autaugaville Autauga 1827 0.3 miles (0.5 km) Brief touchdown, tornado damaged one outbuilding. Caused $14,000 in damages.
F0 NW of Vida Autauga 1836 0.2 miles (0.3 km) Brief touchdown, damage was confined to trees. Caused $3,000 in damages.
F0 SSW of Cecil Montgomery 1842 7.6 miles (12.2 km) Tornado caused damage to a baseball complex. Caused $22,000 in damages.
F0 W of Shorter Macon, Elmore 1855 5.6 miles (9.0 km) Tornado damaged a few structures. Caused $18,000 in damages.
F0 SSW of Tallassee Elmore 1917 1.3 miles (2.1 km) Brief touchdown, tornado damaged three homes and one outbuilding. Caused $38,000 in damages.
F1 NW of Tuskegee Macon 1934 0.1 miles (0.2 km) 1 Injury Brief touchdown, tornado completely destroyed an auto body shop. Caused $48,000 in damages.
F0 SW of Prattville Autauga 1956 0.2 miles (0.3 km) Brief touchdown, tornado damaged a few trees. Caused $2,000 in damages.
F0 E of Camp Hill Tallapoosa 2034 0.1 miles (0.2 km) Brief touchdown, no damage reported.
F0 SW of Lafayette Chambers 2034 0.1 miles (0.2 km) Brief touchdown, no damage reported.
F0 E of Opelika Lee 2040 1.2 miles (1.9 km) Brief touchdown, two mobile homes were damaged. Caused $34,000 in damages.
Florida
F0 Cantonment area Escambia 1150 1 mile (1.6 km) Brief touchdown, tornado knocked down several trees and power lines. Caused $20,000 in damages.
F0 Bratt area Escambia 1211 0.5 miles (0.8 km) Brief touchdown, tornado knocked down several trees and power lines. Caused $15,000 in damages.
F0 Laurel Hill area Okaloosa 1555 1 mile (1.6 km) Brief touchdown, tornado knocked down several trees and power lines. Caused $15,000 in damages.
Georgia
F0 SW of Rocky Mount Meriwether 2230 0.3 miles (0.5 km) Brief touchdown, two mobile homes and a few vehicles were damaged. Caused $25,000 in damages.
F0 N of Haralson Coweta 0100 0.1 miles (0.2 km) Brief touchdown, damage was confined to trees. Caused $1,000 in damages.
F0 SE of Fayetteville Fayette 0110 1 mile (1.6 km) Brief touchdown, hundreds of trees were blown down, twisted, and uprooted along the path of the tornado, many causing damage to dozens of homes and vehicles. Trees fell through the roof of several homes. A couple of businesses in southeast Fayetteville reported extensive damage, with the roof blown off one building on Highway 85 Parkway. Caused $2 million in damages.
F2 Atlanta Motor Speedway Henry, Clayton 0145 9 miles (14.5 km) See section on this tornado
F0 W of Mc Donough Henry 0155 0.5 miles (0.8 km) Brief touchdown, a church and several homes were damaged. Several trees and power lines were also knocked down. Caused $150,000 in damages.
F1 NE of Mc Donough Henry 0155 7 miles (11.3 km) Tornado tracked through mostly rural areas and damage was confined to trees and power lines. Caused $25,000 in damages.
Sources:

NCDC Tornado History Project 7/6/05

July 7 event

List of confirmed tornadoes - Thursday, July 7, 2005
F#
Location
County
Coord.
Time (UTC)
Path length
Damage
South Carolina
F1 W of Anderson Anderson 0643 0.5 miles (0.8 km) Brief touchdown, tornado struck a dock where it damaged about twelve sailboats, one of which was thrown 100 yards. Caused $150,000 in damages.
F1 NW of Chesnee Spartanburg, Rutherford (NC) 1451 0.2 miles (0.3 km) Brief touchdown, one outbuilding had its roof torn off and one mobile home was picked up and dropped 50 to 100 ft from where it once stood, causing severe damage to it. Caused $50,000 in damages.
North Carolina
F2 S of Taylorsville Alexander 1710 4 miles (6.4 km) Tornado destroyed one mobile home and damaged several homes. Caused $150,000 in damages.
F2 NNE of Harmony Iredell, Yadkin 1810 8.6 miles (13.8 km) At least 13 structures were damaged or destroyed. In addition to the structural damage, damage to tobacco and corn crops was extensive. Caused $2.4 million in damages.
F1 NE of Yadkinville Yadkin 1841 1.4 miles (2.3 km) Brief touchdown, damage was confined to trees. No structural damage reported.
F1 E of Yadkinville Yadkin 1853 1.1 miles (1.8 km) Brief touchdown, damage was confined to trees. No structural damage reported.
F0 Lewisville area Forsyth 1930 8 miles (12.9 km) Damage was confined to trees. No structural damage reported.
F0 Ceffo area Person 1942 1 mile (1.6 km) Brief touchdown, no damage reported.
F0 Oak Ridge area Guilford 2120 5 miles (8.0 km) No damage reported.
F0 N of Olivia Harnett 0040 12 miles (19.3 km) No damage reported.
Virginia
F1 NW of Ararat Patrick 1722 0.6 miles (1.0 km) Brief touchdown, no damage reported.
F1 N of Alberta Brunswick, Nottoway 0050 3.7 miles (6.0 km) Damage confined to trees. Caused $10,000 in damages.
F1 Winterpock area Chesterfield 0229 0.5 miles (0.8 km) Brief touchdown, minor damage to one home. Caused $5,000 in damages.
F1 E of South Hill Mecklenburg 0255 4.5 miles (7.2 km) Tornado caused damage to several structures. Caused $5,000 in damages.
F1 S of Beach Chesterfield 0415 0.5 miles (0.8 km) Brief touchdown, damage was mainly confined to a small forested area. Caused $3,000 in damages.
F1 Varina area Henrico 0515 0.1 miles (0.2 km) Brief touchdown, tornado blew the roof off an industrial barn. Caused $5,000 in damages
Sources:

NCDC Tornado History Project 7/7/05

July 8 event

List of confirmed tornadoes - Friday, July 8, 2005
F#
Location
County
Coord.
Time (UTC)
Path length
Damage
Virginia
F1 N of Capron Southampton 0620 1 mile (1.6 km) Brief touchdown, tornado caused minor damage. Caused $2,000 in damages.
F1 Saluda area Middlesex 0715 3 miles (4.8 km) Tornado blew the roof off one home. Caused $5,000 in damages.
Sources:

NCDC Tornado History Project 7/8/05

Atlanta Motor Speedway tornado

On July 6 at 8:45PM (EST), a large, half-mile wide tornado touched down near the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The tornado was estimated to have had winds of 120 mph as it tore through the complex.[3] Every building had sustained at least minor damage and some that were damaged beyond repair. On some of the condominiums, the roof had caved in. Most structures had their windows blown out. The five-story scoreboard was blown down as well. The track was not damaged, however, debris was littered all over it.[9] The tornado continued on its path of destruction towards the Tara Field Airport, west of the speedway. There, eleven planes and five vintage helicopters were damaged. The tornado then moved towards the Edgar Blalock Raw Water Reservation. At this point, the tornado had already been weakening and shrinking. The tornado turned to the northwest and crossed into Clayton County. The tornado lifted shortly after at around 9:04 p.m. (EST).

Damage from the tornado was extensive. About $40 million in damages was caused to the Speedway as many buildings needed to be torn down and rebuilt.[9] Nearby the airport, a Chevron Auto service station was destroyed and at least 60 homes were severely damaged and over 200 others damaged along the tornados' nine mile track. Power to most of Henry County was out due to the damage.[3]

Following the tornado, all races scheduled to take place for several weeks were cancelled; the first race after the repair work was finished was to take place on October 30.[10]

In all, the tornado caused $71.5 million in damages and despite all the devastation, no one was injured by the tornado.

See also

References

  1. ^ National Hurricane Center. "Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Cindy" (PDF). NOAA. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/TCR-AL032005_Cindy.pdf. Retrieved June 22, 2008. 
  2. ^ NCDC: Event Details
  3. ^ a b c National Weather Service. "NCDC Event Details: Atlanta Motor Speedway Tornado". NOAA. http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~ShowEvent~570067. Retrieved June 22, 2008. 
  4. ^ NCDC: Event Details
  5. ^ NCDC: Event Details
  6. ^ "NCDC Event Report: Alabama Tornado". National Climatic Data Center. 2005. http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~ShowEvent~564695. Retrieved March 14, 2009. 
  7. ^ "NCDC Event Report: Alabama Tornado". National Climatic Data Center. 2005. http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~ShowEvent~564696. Retrieved March 14, 2009. 
  8. ^ "NCDC Event Report: Alabama Tornado". National Climatic Data Center. 2005. http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~ShowEvent~564699. Retrieved March 14, 2009. 
  9. ^ a b NBC Sports. "Atlanta Speedway badly damaged by tornado". NBC. http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/8503740/. Retrieved June 22, 2008. 
  10. ^ Associated Press (July 8, 2005). "Tornado Shreds Atlanta Motor Speedway". Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,161991,00.html. Retrieved March 14, 2009. 

External links