Tornadoes · United States · Georgia · 2013

EF0 tornado, Ola, Georgia, April 28, 2013

This EF0 tornado ran 1.1 miles across Henry County on April 28, 2013, touching down at 3:20 PM EDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $20,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. EF2111 to 135 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. EF3136 to 165 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. EF5over 200 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
April 28, 2013
Touchdown
3:20 PM EDT (19:20 UTC)
Lifted
3:21 PM EDT (19:21 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
1.1 miles (1.7 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$20,000
County
Henry County
Touchdown point
33.473, -84.038
Lift-off point
33.477, -84.020
Record number
1304281320-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A strong upper level trough pushed through the Southeast during the 28th, with showers and thunderstorms developing across north and central Georgia ahead of an approaching cold front. Several thunderstorms were able to reach severe levels, with large hail and damaging winds reported. Two weak tornadoes also occurred in Coweta and Henry Counties. Thunderstorms with periods of heavy rain over a long duration caused areas of temporary street flooding in northwest Georgia. Minor flooding occurred on several creeks and rivers mainly in this area.

A National Weather Service survey team determined that a weak EF-0 tornado touched down at Turner Church Road and North Ola Road. A tree was downed at that location. The tornado then lifted and touched down in the Sleepy Hollow subdivision where most of its damage occurred. Five houses had damaged siding, six trees were downed and an outbuilding had damage to its roof. The tornado lifted just east of the subdivision. Eyewitnesses reported rotation and that they received the warning in plenty of time to seek shelter.|[04/28/13: Tornado #2, County #1-1, EF0, Henry, 2013:010].

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

7 minutes of warning. NWS FFC issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:13 UTC, 7 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 19:31 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
18:58 UTC19:35 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFC
19:13 UTC19:31 UTCTornado WarningFFC

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 16:12 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), 12:00Z

7.3 hours before the tornado, 45 km from the path. April 28, 2013.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2013-04-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -82909, lifted condensation level 511 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2013-04-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 308 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 40 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-82909 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
511 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
308 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
379 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), 00:00Z

4.7 hours after it, 45 km from the path. April 29, 2013.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 2013-04-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 155 joules per kilogram, CIN -26, lifted condensation level 525 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 2013-04-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -42 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 34 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
155 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-26 J/kg
Surface CAPE
297 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
525 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-42 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-0.3
0-3 km lapse rate
6.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Covington (9A1), 24 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
17:35 UTC680° 0 kt1018.6
17:55 UTC680° 0 kt1018.3
18:15 UTC680° 0 kt1017.9
18:35 UTC66.230° 5 kt1017.6-DZ
18:55 UTC64.440° 4 kt1017.6-VCTSRA
19:15 UTC64.410° 4 kt1017.6RA
19:35 UTC64.4350° 7 kt1017.3+TSRA
19:55 UTC62.6330° 5 kt1017.6+TSRA
20:15 UTC62.640° 6 kt1017.3TSRA
20:35 UTC62.650° 4 kt1016.3-RA
20:55 UTC62.60° 0 kt1016.6-RA
21:15 UTC62.60° 0 kt1016.9-RA

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 51 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:19 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
19:20 UTCTORNADO 06 Ene McdonoughHenry, GAA WEAK EF-0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN AT TURNER CHURCH ROAD AND NORTH OLA ROAD. A TREE WAS DOWNED AT THAT LOCATION. THE TORNADO THEN LIFTED AND TOUCHED DOWN IN THE SLEEPY HOLLOW SUBDIVISION WHERE MOST OF ITS DAMAGE WAS TO THE
19:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 E McdonoughHenry, GAONE LARGE OAK TREE DOWN ALONG GA HWY 20 ABOUT 5 MILES EAST OF MCDONOUGH.
19:43 UTCHAIL 1.752 Sw CovingtonNewton, GAPUBLIC REPORTED GOLF BALL SIZED HAIL SW OF COVINGTON.
19:56 UTCHAIL 12 E CovingtonNewton, GATHE PUBLIC RELAYED A REPORT OF QUARTER SIZED HAIL IN COVINGTON.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2013 tornado in GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 28, 2013

3 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 281:30 PM EDTEF0Coweta, GA0.150$60,000
April 286:08 PM EDTEF0Lincoln, GA1.240$12,000
April 287:42 PM EDTEF0Fairfield, SC0.350$10,000

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.