EF3 Tornado — Monroe, Georgia

2020-04-13 · near Collier, Monroe, Georgia

Event narrative

This tornado is a regeneration from the same storm which caused the Upson County EF-3 tornado to the southwest. This tornado first touched down along Potts Cemetery Road downing a few trees continuing NE crossing Hwy 41 and Ingram Rd snapping and

uprooting a few trees. This portion of the track was rated EF-0. The tornado intensified quickly NE of Hwy 41 into an EF-3 as it approached Goodwyne/Collier Rd. A large 100'x150' metal building and small home were completely destroyed. The metal frame and 3'x3'x3' concrete footers for the building were all pulled from the ground with the building and twisted amongst the wreckage leaving holes in the ground around the concrete slab. Several cars were flipped and thrown including a jeep which was thrown onto the small home which sat next to the metal building. The homeowner was inside his home in the bathroom sheltering and survived under the a large pile of debris from both the house and building. Rescue operations took 45 minutes to get to the homeowner under the debris. A small plane was destroyed, a mid-size tractor was

flipped over and a boat was thrown from the tornado at this location. High end EF1/EF2 Tree damage occurred in the area to the surrounding and to the NE of the building. As the Tornado continued NE along Collier Rd, numerous trees were snapped and

uprooted including a large tree onto a home near Collier and Smith Rd. The tornado crossed Interstate 75 near mile marker 188 throwing numerous trees onto the highway shutting it down for a period of time until they were cleared. By this point, the tornado

intensity decreased to EF0/EF1 and continued NE crossing English Rd downing trees and eventually Hwy 42 before weakening. NWS Radar imagery suggests debris was lofted to as high as 19,000 FT from this particular tornado. [04/13/20: Tornado #13, County #1/1, EF-3, Monroe, 2020:019].

Wider weather episode

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.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.0298, -84.0330)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 893078. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.