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EF1 tornado in Dade County, Georgia

Tornado April 12, 2020 · Dade County, Georgia

EF1
Rating
7.5 mi
Whole path
350 yd
Path width
$700K
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Dekalb County, Alabama → Dade County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 350 yards (0.20 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

A National Weather Service survey found that an EF1 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 100 mph and a maximum path width of 350 yards moved into Dade County from DeKalb County Alabama. The tornado crossed the Alabama-Georgia border at EF1 strength downing numerous trees as it moved east-northeast along Michaels Road and Brown Gap Cemetery Road. A home in this area received damage to the roof and to the columns on the front porch. The tornado continued northeast crossing Back Valley Road blowing down several trees on the Trenton Golf Club property. Along Highway 11, additional trees were blown down onto homes before the tornado moved into the city of Trenton. In Trenton, notable damage occurred along Glenview Drive where an RV was overturned and destroyed. Additional damage to trees was seen along Canyon Park Drive before the tornado lifted. In all, around 100 homes were damaged with a few destroyed. [04/12/20: Tornado #3, County #1/1, EF-1, Dade, 2020:009].

The wider storm

A powerful Spring storm system resulted in a Severe Weather / Tornado outbreak across much of the Southeast region, including north and central Georgia, beginning on Easter Sunday (April 12th) and lingering into the morning hours of April 13th. From the Storm Prediction Center (Day 1) convective outlook, just about the entire area was under an ENHANCED risk for severe weather with a MODERATE risk extending from the ArkLaMiss into western Georgia.

In addition, enhanced rainfall occurred over far north Georgia and in portions of central Georgia, with rainfall amounts ranging from 3 to 8 inches through the event. Significant flooding was in portions of the area with numerous reports of washouts and several reports of rescues.

Began near Gass (34.8372, -85.5789).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

22 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 889264. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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