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EF1 tornado in Putnam County, Georgia

Tornado April 13, 2020 · Putnam County, Georgia

EF1
Rating
12.9 mi
Path length
300 yd
Path width
$100K
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 high-end EF1 tornado touched down along Shady Dale Rd in Putnam County knocking down a few trees. The tornado continued NE through the Oconee National Forest downing trees and crossing Godfrey Rd where numerous trees were snapped or

uprooted. Most of the damage to this point was rated EF0 to low-end EF1. As the tornado moved NE crossing Reids Rd it intensified to maximum intensity snapping hundreds of trees 10 feet off the ground as it crossed the road. The storm continued NE crossing Hwy 129 snapping and uprooting trees. Three homes located along the hwy

sustained minor roof damage from the storm. The storm crossed Bethel Church Rd snapping trees and across Lower Harmony Road where the top of a silo was torn off in addition to roofing material from a nearby barn. The storm eventually crossed Denham

road knocking over a few trees before lifting as it approached a neighborhood along Hunters Chase Ct. [04/13/20: Tornado #16, County #1/1, EF-1, Putnam, 2020:022].

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 Willard (33.3098, -83.4961).

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 893095. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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