EF1 tornado in Sumter County, Georgia

A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that an EF1 tornado touched down in extreme northeast Sumter county, approximately three miles east-southeast of Methvins and continued on an east-southeastward track for approximately 25 miles across extreme southern Dooly county and into extreme northwest Wilcox county before lifting approximately five miles north of Seville in Wilcox county. This was the first of three tornadoes to touch down in Sumter county the evening of April 10th. Within Sumter county, this tornado had a path length of about 2.5 miles. It was also apparent that this tornado was spawned from the same supercell thunderstorm that spawned two earlier tornadoes in Chattahoochee county. The maximum path width of this tornado was determined to be 250 yards with maximum winds estimated at 110 mph. Damage in Sumter county was mostly confined to hundreds of downed trees.

A vigorous upper closed low was moving from the mid-south and Mississippi valley region into the mid-Atlantic and southeast U.S. A strong cold front accompanied the upper system. A strong low-level jet in advance of these weather systems transported warm, moist Gulf air northward into the region. With strong dynamics, hence shear, combined with an unusually moist, unstable atmosphere, the atmosphere was primed for a major weather outbreak. One round of thunderstorms passed through north Georgia during the early morning hours. A few minor severe weather events accompanied this system in northwest Georgia. Partial clearing followed the morning convection, allowing temperatures to soar into the mid 70s across much of north and central Georgia in advance of the main weather system. Scattered to numerous discrete supercell thunderstorms developed during mid-afternoon in northwest Georgia and progressed east and southeast across the remaining portions of the county warning area during the evening hours. Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes lingered into the early morning hours of the 11th across the southern counties of central Georgia. During the eight hour period from 5 pm EDT on April 10th to 1 am EDT on April 11th, a total of 14 tornadoes were confirmed to have touched down in north and central Georgia causing millions in damages. While some injuries were observed, no deaths were observed.