EF2 tornado, Treadwell to Gregory, Georgia, April 12, 2020

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF2

Date

April 12, 2020

Touchdown

9:45 PM EDT (01:45 UTC)

Lifted

9:55 PM EDT (01:55 UTC)

On the ground

10 minutes

Path length

8.9 miles (14.3 km)

Path width

860 yards (786 m)

Deaths

8

Injuries

24

Property damage

$500,000

County

Murray County

Touchdown point

34.810, -84.838

Lift-off point

34.925, -84.769

Record number

2004121945-01

100 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS FFC and NWS MRX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 135 mph.

• Single home damage... Other surrounding homes well intact
• Left edge of rotation track
• trees all facing southwest down the slope
• Large swath of trees down - noted by aerial drone footage

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

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.

A National Weather Service survey found that an EF2 tornado with maximum winds of 135 mph and a maximum path width of 860 yards occurred in Murray County. The tornado touched down along Mitchell Bridge Road, just northwest of the Indian Trace Golf Course where several trees were snapped. The tornado moved northeast crossing Highway 286 and Twin Lakes Road where a few trees were snapped or uprooted and|minor damage occurred to several homes. The tornado appeared to briefly strengthen around Ellis Circle where there was more notable exterior damage to homes and a greater number of trees uprooted. As the tornado continued northeast crossing Fullers Chapel Road, noticeable strengthening occurred. Aerial drone footage showed a wide swath of large trees blown down just before Norton Bridge Road. At least 8 double-wide manufactured homes were completely destroyed along Deer Park Drive, with several others sustaining some degree of damage. It was here the tornado quickly strengthened to EF2 intensity with winds around 125 MPH. Similar, significant, damage was seen along Ridgeview Lane and Fieldview Court, where additional manufactured homes were destroyed and a recently built cell tower was left crumpled by the intense winds. At this point, the tornado reached its peak intensity with maximum wind speeds around 135 MPH. The tornado maintained its EF2 intensity as it crossed over Zion Church Hill Road, just before Highway 225. As the strong tornado crossed Highway 225, a small single-family home was heavily damaged with just a couple of interior walls left standing. Along Jim Petty Road, 4 large chicken houses were damaged or destroyed with the debris thrown several hundred yards away. Further north along Jim Petty Road, near Hawkins Road, the damage appeared to lessen quickly with just a few trees blown down and minor roof damage to a shed. Some additional damage, mainly trees being snapped or uprooted, was seen along Halls Chapel Road, just before Temple Grove road. The tornado lifted just beyond this point, along Sumac Ridge. Eight people were killed and around 2 dozen injured in the area between Fullers Chapel Road and Jim Petty Road. [04/12/20: Tornado #2, County #1/1, EF-2, Murray, 2020:008].

The deaths

8 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 23:22 UTC and running to 03:45 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Enhanced Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 00:58 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 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.

Dalton Municipal Airport (DNN), 17 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 117 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:44 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.

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

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2020 tornado in GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are

72 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 73 of them

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.

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