 A cumulative map of all tornadoes and tornado warnings throughout the outbreak | |
| Type | Tornado outbreak |
|---|---|
| Duration | August 26–31, 2005 |
| Tornadoes confirmed | 57 confirmed (Record for a continuous outbreak in August) |
| Max. rating1 | F2 tornado |
| Duration of tornado outbreak2 | 4 days, 22 hours, and 15 minutes |
| Fatalities | 1 fatality, 9 injuries |
| Damage | $23.1 million (2005 USD)[nb 1] |
| Areas affected | Southeastern United States, Mid-Atlantic states |
Part of tornado outbreaks of 2005 1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale 2Time from first tornado to last tornado | |
Accompanying Hurricane Katrina's catastrophic coastal impacts was a moderate tornado outbreak spawned by the cyclone's outer bands. The event spanned August 26–31, 2005, with 57 tornadoes touching down across 8 states. One person died and numerous communities suffered damage of varying degrees from central Mississippi to Pennsylvania, with Georgia sustaining record monetary damage for the month of August. Due to extreme devastation in coastal areas of Louisiana and Mississippi, multiple tornadoes may have been overlooked—overshadowed by the effects of storm surge and large-scale wind—and thus the full extent of the hurricane's tornado outbreak is uncertain. Furthermore, an indeterminate number of waterspouts likely formed throughout the life cycle of Hurricane Katrina.[1]
The outbreak began with an isolated F2 over the Florida Keys on August 26; no tornadoes were recorded the following day as the storm traversed the Gulf of Mexico. Four weak tornadoes were observed on August 28 as the hurricane approached land, each causing little damage. Coincident with Katrina's landfall, activity began in earnest on August 29 with numerous tornadoes touching down across Gulf Coast states. Georgia suffered the greatest impact on this day, with multiple F1 and F2 tornadoes causing significant damage; one person died in Carroll County, marking the first known instance of a tornado-related death in the state during August. A record 18 tornadoes touched down across Georgia on August 29, far exceeding the previous daily record of just 2 tornadoes for the month throughout the state.[2] Activity diminished over the subsequent two days as the former hurricane moved northward. Several more tornadoes touched down across the Mid-Atlantic states before the cessation of the outbreak just after midnight local time on August 31.
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- ^ Wen-Chau Lee; Michael M. Bell; Keith E. Goodman Jr. (August 19, 2008). "Supercells and mesocyclones in outer rainbands of Hurricane Katrina (2005)". Geophysical Research Letters. 35 (16): L16803. Bibcode:2008GeoRL..3516803L. doi:10.1029/2008GL034724.
- ^ J. Robby Westbrook; James D. Westbrook (August 29, 2005). Georgia's Record Tornado Outbreak (PDF) (Report). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
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