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EF1 tornado in Bibb County, Georgia

Tornado April 13, 2020 · Bibb County, Georgia

EF1
Rating
3.7 mi
Path length
300 yd
Path width
$250K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 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 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].

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 Wesleyan College (32.8730, -83.7718).

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 893091. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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