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EF1 tornado in Washington County, Georgia

Tornado April 13, 2020 · Washington County, Georgia

EF1
Rating
14.2 mi
Whole path
220 yd
Path width
$270K
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Washington County → Jefferson County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 220 yards (0.12 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

This tornado began along News Bridge Road destroying a building before moving over more rural sections and snapping hundreds of trees consisting of both softwoods and

hardwoods. The tornado was remarkably consistent in its track, producing EF1 damage between 95 and 100 mph nearly the entire path. Dozens of homes were damaged with a few destroyed from trees falling on them. The tornado near HJ lane pick up two

vehicles including a truck and displaced them 100 yards. Shortly before the tornado lifted, it crossed into Jefferson county where additional tree damage occurred. [04/13/20: Tornado #21, County #1/2, EF-1, Washington, 2020:027].

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 Riddleville (32.8613, -82.6972).

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 893111. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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