EF3 tornado, Lincoln Park to Topeka Jct, 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 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 mphthis tornado

   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

EF3

Date

April 13, 2020

Touchdown

2:19 AM EDT (06:19 UTC)

Lifted

2:35 AM EDT (06:35 UTC)

On the ground

16 minutes

Path length

16.6 miles (26.8 km)

Path width

1,200 yards (1097 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$305,000

Counties

Upson and Lamar counties

Touchdown point

32.850, -84.334

Lift-off point

32.994, -84.106

Record number

2004130019-01

4 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS FFC, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF3. The highest wind the damage implies is 140 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.

A National Weather Service survey found that an EF3 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 140 mph and a maximum path width of 1200 yards developed south of Thomaston in Upson County near Gordon School Road east of Old Talbotton Road. The tornado moved northeast narrowly missing the densely populated Lincoln Park area but hitting the Southern Crescent Technical College and Raintree Golf and Country Club on Highway 19 with winds of 70 to 85 mph. The tornado intensified as it passed Triune Mill Road on a path parallel to and just south of Yatesville Highway, where homes and cars were damaged from falling trees. As the tornado reached Trice Cemetery Road, it broadened to over 2/3 of a mile wide. An unoccupied mobile home was rotated 90 degrees and rolled on its side. The tornado reached its maximum intensity as reached Trinity road where a single story frame home had most of its roof blown off and every tree within a 1/8 mile radius was snapped. One house was lifted off of its foundation and deposited several yards away in the roadway on Highway 74. The tornado slowly began to weaken as it continued northeast through the northeastern corner of Upson County and into far southeastern Lamar County. In total, 159 structures were affected. thirty eight homes had minor damage, 20 major damage and 7 were destroyed. [04/12/20: Tornado #11, County #1/2, EF-3, Upson, 2020:017].

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

18 minutes of warning. NWS FFC issued a tornado warning for this county at 06:01 UTC, 18 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 06:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 03:45 UTC and running to 07:23 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 Atlanta radar (KFFC), 59 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 06:18 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.