Severe Weather and Tornado Event - April 13, 2020

Overview

A surface low developed on Sunday, moving across the middle Mississippi Valley with a cold front stretching across the Lower Mississippi Valley. By Sunday night, the upper level wave and the surface low lifted into the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys, with the surface front strengthening and pushing into the southeast. While a few storms developed ahead of a main line of storms, the severe storms were confined to a line of storms that moved into southeast Alabama Sunday night, pushed through the remainder of the forecast area and weakened in the far southeast portion of the Big Bend. This front stalled across the southeast Big Bend and brought a few days of perturbed weather to the forecast area.

Satellite imagery of the April 12-13 severe weather event.

This severe weather outbreak was highlighted by the Storm Prediction Center well in advance of the event with a Day 5 outlook. They continued to highlight the area and within 24 hours of the event, a portion of the area was upgraded to a moderate risk.


Day 5 outlook from the Storm Prediction Center.	Day 1 moderate outlook from the Storm Prediction Center.

As the event unfolded Sunday night, a tornado watch was issued for the western half of the forecast area and a watch was later extended eastward.


Initial tornado watch.	Additional tornado watch.

As the line of storms moved through the area, strong winds caused numerous reports of trees down, with more sporadic reports of power lines down, resulting in some power outages. In addition, one tornado developed within the line of storms in Irwin County.

Local storm report map

Tornado Information
Photos and Radar Imagery

Storm Information

Tornado - Irwin County, GA

Date	April 13, 2020
Time	5:59 AM EDT
EF Rating (Max)	1
Est. Peak Winds	90 mph
Path Length	3.96 miles
Max Width	50 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0
Summary: Brief tornado touched down in western Irwin County. The tornado initially touched down north of Five Bridge Road, crossed Five Bridge Road near Palm Road and ended near Palm Road and Peach Road. Many trees were snapped.

Track Map

Track Map EF-Scale

Tornado - Worth/Tift, GA

Date	April 13, 2020
Time	5:36 AM EDT
EF Rating (Max)	1
Est. Peak Winds	90 mph
Path Length	3.17 miles
Max Width	100 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0
Summary: A brief tornado touched down just southwest of Highway 82, west of Ty Ty, GA where there was minor structural damage as well as widespread trees being uprooted and snapped. The tornado moved northeast and crossed Highway 82 where a member of the public reported seeing it. It then continued northeast with damage reported on Little River Road and Whiddon Mill Road which was consistent with radar signatures. Thank you to Worth County GA Emergency Management officials in their help in collecting damage points and pictures.

Track Map

Track Map EF-Scale

The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:

EF0 Weak 65-85 mph	EF1 Moderate 86-110 mph	EF2 Significant 111-135 mph	EF3 Severe 136-165 mph	EF4 Extreme 166-200 mph	EF5 Catastrophic 200+ mph

Radar Imagery

Irwin County, GA Tornado - Radar Imagery


Radar image near the time the tornado touched down. (VAX 959Z)	First indication of a Tornadic Debris Signature where lower correlation coefficient values can be seen in the lower left portion of the image. (VAX 1001Z)	Radar image as the tornado began to weaken and lift. (VAX 1004Z).

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