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EF1 tornado in Cherokee County, Georgia

Tornado April 13, 2020 · Cherokee County, Georgia

EF1
Rating
0.7 mi
Path length
100 yd
Path width
$250K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 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 90 mph and a maximum path width of 100 yards touched down in northwest Cherokee County blowing down 250-300 trees along Garland Mountain Trail, blocking the road in several places and narrowly missing a few large homes. [04/12/20: Tornado #8, County #1/1, EF-1, Cherokee, 2020:014].

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 Greeley (34.3524, -84.6028).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF3 Hamilton County 2 deadEF3 Upson CountyEF3 Monroe CountyEF2 Murray County 8 deadEF2 Walker CountyEF1 Bartow County 1 deadEF1 Chattooga CountyEF1 Dekalb CountyEF1 Banks CountyEF1 Bibb CountyEF1 Putnam CountyEF1 Greene CountyEF1 Washington CountyEF0 Floyd CountyEF0 Floyd CountyEF0 Harris CountyEF0 Talbot CountyEF0 Fulton CountyEF0 Hall CountyEF0 Washington CountyEF0 Washington CountyEF0 Washington County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 889291. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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