Severe Weather & Flooding of April 7, 2014

Severe weather impacted the forecast area on April 7 and was accompanied by some flooding. Figure 1 shows all of the severe weather and flooding reports that were received by this office, as well as any warnings that were in effect. As can be seen in the figure, most of the severe wind gusts occurred along the coast. There were also two tornadoes confirmed in the forecast area and will be discussed in detail below. Much of the northern portion of the forecast area received in excess of three inches of rain with most areal flooding concentrated in Dougherty and Worth Counties in GA. A detailed summary of severe weather and flooding reports is available.

Figure 1. Map showing warning polygons and observed reports of severe weather and flooding that occurred on April 7, 2014. Polygons for tornado warnings (red), severe thunderstorm warnings (yellow), flood warnings (green) and special marine warnings (purple) are shown. Rain symbols indicate areas that reported in excess of 3 inches of rain. The waves indicate flooding reports. Tornado, wind and wind damage icons are also included.

Irwin County EF1 Tornado

Two tornadoes were confirmed by NWS survey teams for this event. An EF1 tornado touched down in Irwin County about 4 miles south of Ocilla, GA, and was on the ground for about 10 minutes. Figure 2 shows the approximate track for this tornado. One mobile home sustained significant damage from this tornado and is pictured in Figure 3. The home was knocked several feet off its foundation and most of the roof was torn off. Fortunately, there was no one living in this abandoned structure. Figure 4 shows storm-relative velocity from the KJGX radar in Warner Robbins, GA. Note the high rotational velocity couplet associated with the tornado that caused the indicated downstream damage reports.

Figure 2. Map showing the approximate track of and EF1 tornado that touched down in Irwin County, GA, on April 7, 2014. Click here for the KML File.

Figure 3. A mobile home on Poppy Road in southern Irwin County that was severely damaged by an EF1 tornado on April 7, 2014.

Leon County EF0 Tornado

A second tornado briefly touched down in eastern Leon County, FL around 5:20 PM EDT. It lifted a few minutes later and damage was confined to trees. Figure 5 shows the short track near Yashuntafun Road between William Road and Louvinia Drive.

Figure 5. Map showing the track of a brief EF0 tornado that touched down in eastern Leon County on April 7, 2014. Click here for the KML File.

Flooding

As mentioned earlier, large portions of the forecast area received in excess of 3 inches of rain. This resulted in immediate flooding in some areas, mainly concentrated in Dougherty and southern Worth Counties in GA. Figures 6 and 7 show some of this flooding with additional flooding photos available in the photo gallery. In the days following the heavy rain, the excessive run off worked its way into area rivers, some of which exceed moderate flood stage. In fact, the Choctawhatchee River will flood along almost its entire length. The river crested above moderate flood stage at Newton, AL (Figure 8) while downstream at Bruce-Ebro, major flooding is possible (Figure 9).

Figure 6. A road closed due to flooding in Albany, GA, on April 7, 2014.

Figure 7. A road washed out by a flooded Warrior Creek in Colquitt County, GA. Photo courtesy of WALB-TV.

Figure 8. Hydrograph showing the flood crest on the Choctawhatchee River at Newton, AL on April 9, 2014.

Figure 9. Hydrograph showing the predicted flood crest on the Choctawhatchee River at Bruce-Ebro, FL in April 2014.

This page was authored by Mark Wool. The map of storm reports and warning polygons was created by Don Van Dyke.