EF1 tornado in Fannin County, Georgia

The tornado that touched down in Gilmer County continued into Fannin County, moving northeast through the Sugar Creek area before lifting in the Hothouse Valley area. The tornado with maximum wind speeds of 90 MPH snapped or uprooted hundreds of trees. Up to 100 power poles were either snapped or damaged. Thirty structures were damaged mainly due to falling trees. While the maximum path width was about a half mile wide, the majority of the path was 300-400 yards wide.

[01/30/13: Tornado #2, County #2-2, EF1, Gilmer-Fannin, 2013:002].

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.