EF1 Tornado — Bibb, Georgia

2020-04-13 · near Wesleyan College, Bibb, Georgia

Event narrative

A tornado briefly touched down in Macon as a line of severe storms moved through the city. The tornado first touched down on Edgewater Drive causing a tree to fall onto a house. The storm crossed I-475 and ripping shingles and roofing material off of 2 hotels next to the interstate as well as blowing a fence down. The storm crossed Zebulon Rd where the front door and windows of a Walgreens Store were completely blown in and a large hole was blown through the roof. Most of the interior shelving and ceiling was blown over and downed with significant damage occurring to the store. A Walmart adjacent to the Walgreens had its sunroofs blown out with minor roof damage elsewhere. Numerous trees were uprooted in and around the Walmart Parking lot. Further up Zebulon, a gas station canopy sustained damage as much of the metal sheeting was peeled and thrown. Significant shingle damage occurred to a small professional building next to the gas station. A large tree was downed onto Zebulon Rd next to the Chick-Fil-A. The storm continued NE it hit the subdivision along Huddersfield

Rd and Wakefield Way hard with numerous large trees downed including several onto homes causing major damage to the homes. The tornado began to weaken as it continued NE crossing Forsyth Rd with branches and limbs down. The tornado ended near Wesleyan Dr and Tharpe Dr with a few trees downed. [04/13/20: Tornado #15, County #1/1, EF-1, Bibb, 2020:021].

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 → (32.8730, -83.7718)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 893091. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.