EF1 tornado in Dooly County, Georgia

A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City confirmed that the EF1 tornado, that originally touched down in far northeastern Sumter county three miles east-southeast of Methvins, continued on an east-southeastward track across far southern Dooly county and into extreme northwest Wilcox county, lifting approximately five miles north of Seville in Wilcox county. The tornado tracked around 21 miles within Dooly county. The maximum path width was determined to be 250 yards and the maximum winds were estimated at 110 mph. The tornado passed just north of Drayton and just south of Vienna in Dooly county. Several hundred trees were either uprooted or snapped along the path of the tornado. A number of pecan trees in an orchard south of Vienna were destroyed. Two site built homes suffered significant roof damage from downed trees on the structures. Two mobiles homes were also damaged by the high winds of the tornado. Several barns and outbuildings were destroyed along the path of the tornado. Several irrigation systems were rolled over. A small radio tower in the eastern part of Dooly county was also blown over. No deaths or injuries were reported.

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.