EF1 tornado, Riddleville to Bartow, 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

4:18 AM EDT (08:18 UTC)

Lifted

4:32 AM EDT (08:32 UTC)

On the ground

14 minutes

Path length

14.2 miles (22.9 km)

Path width

220 yards (201 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$270,000

Counties

Washington and Jefferson counties

Touchdown point

32.861, -82.697

Lift-off point

32.892, -82.472

Record number

2004130218-01

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.

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].

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 #2/2, EF-0, Jefferson, 2020:027].

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

15 minutes of warning. NWS FFC issued a tornado warning for this county at 08:03 UTC, 15 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 08:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 07:21 UTC and running to 09:39 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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:50 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.

The Robins AFB radar (KJGX), 75 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 08:17 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.