EF3 Tornado — Bartow, Georgia

2013-01-30 · near Adairsville, Bartow, Georgia

Event narrative

A tornado touched down just southwest of Adairsville at approximately 1112 AM EST. The tornado strengthened to high-end EF-3 in Adairsville where dozens of homes were damaged or destroyed. At least 95 structures were damaged, with 31 destroyed, 17 sustaining major damage, and 47 with minor damage. Most of the damage to homes was a result of trees falling on homes in downtown Adairsville. The worst damage was along Highway 140 where a large portion of a manufacturing plant was destroyed. One fatality occurred when a tree fell on a mobile home. Over 100 cars were overturned near exit 306 on Interstate 75.

[01/30/13: Tornado #1, County #1-2, EF3, Bartow-Gordon, 2013:001].

Wider weather episode

A very large storm system approached the state on the 30th. A highly amplified upper trough over the plains pushed east during the day, dragging a strong cold front through the Southeast. A squall line associated with the cold front pushed into northwest and west central Georgia during the mid-morning hours, and pushed through the rest of the state through the afternoon and evening. Widespread wind damage occurred with this line as it moved through. Additionally, a supercell thunderstorm ahead of the line spawned two tornadoes; a rare January EF-3 across Bartow and Gordon Counties and an EF-1 across Gilmer and Fannin Counties.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.3411, -84.9527)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 428260. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.