EF1 tornado, Ruth to Veazey, Georgia, April 13, 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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF1

Date

April 13, 2020

Touchdown

3:38 AM EDT (07:38 UTC)

Lifted

3:47 AM EDT (07:47 UTC)

On the ground

9 minutes

Path length

6.4 miles (10.3 km)

Path width

350 yards (320 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$500,000

County

Greene County

Touchdown point

33.444, -83.228

Lift-off point

33.505, -83.144

Record number

2004130138-01

1 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS FFC, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 70 mph.

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.

The same storm which generated a tornado in Putnam County regenerated a new EF1 tornado once it crossed into Greene County at Lake Oconee. The tornado first touched down along Reynolds Parkway within the Creek Club Reynolds Plantation subdivision snapping an uprooting a few trees. As the tornado continued NE through the subdivision it intensified to maximum intensity (105 MPH) near the golf course at Rose Creek and Cottage Lane. Several well built homes sustained minor roof damage from wind or debris. Hundreds of trees were snapped or uprooted in the area between Sandy Ford and Rose Creek. The tornado reached the point at the end of Rose Creek where several homes had trees fall on them caused more significant damage. A portion of dock at a home on Rose Creek was lifted out of the water and thrown onto the |shore and numerous boathouses sustained major damage. The storm crossed a portion of Lake Oconee and emerged into another subdivision along Cherokee Drive, Cloudland Ct. and Eagle Bluff Drive where numerous trees were snapped and uprooted. Several |homes sustained damage from trees here as well. The storm crossed Bouldercrest Way and Sun Valley Ct, across another portion of Lake Oconee and up Club Drive snapping and uprooting trees. The tornado weakened a bit as it moved up Armour Rd with EF0 type tree damage and crossed Fleur de Lac Lane where a pocket of EF1 tree damage was observed and a home was severely damaged from a falling tree. The storm continued to weaken as it moved NE and dissipatedas it crossed Veaszy and White Plains Rd where a tree was knocked over. In total, an estimated 35 to 40 homes were impacted by trees from this tornado. [04/13/20: Tornado #17, County #1/1, EF-1, Greene, 2020:023].

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

14 minutes of warning. NWS FFC issued a tornado warning for this county at 07:24 UTC, 14 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 08:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 03:45 UTC and running to 08:53 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 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.

The Robins AFB radar (KJGX), 90 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 07:38 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

67 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 68 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.