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EF1 tornado in Stephens County, Georgia

Tornado April 13, 2020 · Stephens County, Georgia

EF1

Rating

22.4 mi

Whole path

500 yd

Path width

$140K

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Habersham County → Banks County → Habersham County → Stephens County → Stephens County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 500 yards (0.28 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

NWS Storm Survey found the path of an EF1 tornado that began along W Leatherwood Rd just east of Highway 184 N. The tornado moved east/northeast, crossing Nub Garland Rd, Mize Rd, Liberty Hill Rd, Highway 17, and Whispering Pines Rd before lifting near Defoor Rd. Damage was largely confined to numerous uprooted and snapped trees and large limbs. However, a couple of homes received minor structural damage, mainly along Nub Garland Rd.

The wider storm

A strong storm system impacted the Southeast, resulting in a line of strong to severe thunderstorms that moved across northeast Georgia during the early morning hours of the 13th. This resulted in severe weather, including a couple of tornadoes.

Began near Boydville (34.5130, -83.3670).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 886058. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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