EF1 Tornado — Putnam, Georgia

2020-04-13 · near Willard, Putnam, Georgia

Event narrative

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].

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 → (33.3098, -83.4961)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 893095. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.