The severe wind outbreak of April 13, 2020
548 wind reportsGeorgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and 11 more states
548 damaging wind reports across 14 states between 1:00 AM and 4:42 PM CDT, 31 of them 65 knots (75 mph) or stronger; the strongest measured gust was 79 mph in Kent County, DE. 4 hail reports and 68 tornadoes the same day. The 23rd-most wind reports of any day since 1955.
Watch the day unfoldSevere wind day · April 13, 2020
How the day unfolded
Every damaging wind report of the day at its logged time, with the day's hail reports and tornadoes, and the counties they reached.
The day in numbers
- Wind reports
- 548
- 23rd of 15,807 days with wind reports since 1955
- 75 mph or more
- 31
- 5 of 86 mph (75 knots) or more
- Strongest measured gust
- 79 mph
- 69 knots, Kent County, DE
- Measured
- 24
- reports with an instrument reading; the rest are estimates from damage
- Killed by wind
- 2
- 5 injured
- Counties reporting
- 238
- in 14 states
Hour by hour
Damaging wind reports in each hour, Central Daylight Time.
The strongest winds
The 100 strongest reports with a speed. Measured gusts come from an instrument; estimated speeds are judged from damage.
| 5:58 AM | Marlboro County SC | 105 mph | Estimated |
| 6:10 AM | Dorchester County SC | 105 mph | Estimated |
| 7:35 AM | Charleston County SC | 90 mph | Estimated |
| 4:45 AM | Richland County SC | 86 mph | Estimated |
| 1:12 PM | Montgomery County MD | 86 mph | Estimated |
| 4:30 AM | Chesterfield County SC | 81 mph | Estimated |
| 4:36 AM | Richland County SC | 81 mph | Estimated |
| 5:57 AM | Colleton County SC | 81 mph | Estimated |
| 6:35 AM | Berkeley County SC | 81 mph | Estimated |
| 8:40 AM | Onslow County NC | 81 mph | Estimated |
| 2:50 PM | Kent County DE | 79 mph | Measured |
| 3:45 AM | Baker County GA | 75 mph | Estimated |
| 4:00 AM | Saluda County SC | 75 mph | Estimated |
| 4:15 AM | Newberry County SC | 75 mph | Estimated |
| 4:15 AM | Newberry County SC | 75 mph | Estimated |
| 4:20 AM | Lancaster County SC | 75 mph | Estimated |
| 4:25 AM | Lexington County SC | 75 mph | Estimated |
| 4:30 AM | Fairfield County SC | 75 mph | Estimated |
| 5:40 AM | Sumter County SC | 75 mph | Estimated |
| 5:51 AM | Colleton County SC | 75 mph | Estimated |
| 5:52 AM | Colleton County SC | 75 mph | Estimated |
| 5:54 AM | Colleton County SC | 75 mph | Estimated |
| 6:03 AM | Colleton County SC | 75 mph | Estimated |
| 6:12 AM | Dorchester County SC | 75 mph | Estimated |
| 6:21 AM | Dorchester County SC | 75 mph | Estimated |
| 6:38 AM | Dorchester County SC | 75 mph | Estimated |
| 6:42 AM | Berkeley County SC | 75 mph | Estimated |
| 6:53 AM | Beaufort County SC | 75 mph | Estimated |
| 7:05 AM | Jefferson County FL | 75 mph | Estimated |
| 7:07 AM | Liberty County GA | 75 mph | Estimated |
| 7:36 AM | Charleston County SC | 75 mph | Estimated |
| 1:38 PM | Anne Arundel County MD | 72 mph | Measured |
| 6:25 AM | Florence County SC | 70 mph | Estimated |
| 6:40 AM | Robeson County NC | 70 mph | Estimated |
| 7:15 AM | Bladen County NC | 70 mph | Estimated |
| 7:20 AM | Horry County SC | 70 mph | Estimated |
| 10:25 AM | Hyde County NC | 69 mph | Measured |
| 2:05 AM | Franklin County GA | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 2:27 AM | Oconee County SC | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 3:26 AM | McDuffie County GA | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 3:30 AM | Lincoln County GA | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 3:40 AM | Columbia County GA | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 3:45 AM | Richmond County GA | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 3:55 AM | Edgefield County SC | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 4:31 AM | Fairfield County SC | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 4:35 AM | Fairfield County SC | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 5:00 AM | Lancaster County SC | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 5:25 AM | Bamberg County SC | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 5:36 AM | Colleton County SC | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 5:40 AM | Lee County SC | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 5:54 AM | Colleton County SC | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 6:20 AM | Dorchester County SC | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 6:21 AM | Dorchester County SC | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 6:40 AM | Wayne County GA | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 6:40 AM | Wayne County GA | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 6:50 AM | Beaufort County SC | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 6:50 AM | Long County GA | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 7:21 AM | Bryan County GA | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 7:32 AM | Charleston County SC | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 1:09 PM | Montgomery County MD | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 1:14 PM | Montgomery County MD | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 1:42 PM | Anne Arundel County MD | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 2:50 PM | Kent County DE | 69 mph | Estimated |
| 6:36 AM | Scotland County NC | 68 mph | Measured |
| 1:39 PM | Baltimore County MD | 68 mph | Measured |
| 2:55 PM | Kent County DE | 68 mph | Measured |
| 10:56 AM | Dare County NC | 67 mph | Measured |
| 5:20 AM | Kershaw County SC | 66 mph | Measured |
| 10:55 AM | Dare County NC | 66 mph | Measured |
| 2:49 PM | Kent County DE | 64 mph | Measured |
| 3:45 AM | York County SC | 64 mph | Estimated |
| 6:15 AM | Darlington County SC | 64 mph | Estimated |
| 7:20 AM | Horry County SC | 64 mph | Estimated |
| 7:40 AM | Horry County SC | 64 mph | Estimated |
| 8:15 AM | New Hanover County NC | 64 mph | Estimated |
| 6:51 AM | Wake County NC | 63 mph | Measured |
| 1:15 AM | Henry County AL | 63 mph | Estimated |
| 1:18 AM | Dawson County GA | 63 mph | Estimated |
| 1:19 AM | Coffee County AL | 63 mph | Estimated |
| 2:05 AM | Coffee County AL | 63 mph | Estimated |
| 2:08 AM | Stephens County GA | 63 mph | Estimated |
| 2:30 AM | Wilkes County NC | 63 mph | Estimated |
| 2:35 AM | Hart County GA | 63 mph | Estimated |
| 2:40 AM | Holmes County FL | 63 mph | Estimated |
| 2:45 AM | Washington County FL | 63 mph | Estimated |
| 2:50 AM | Holmes County FL | 63 mph | Estimated |
| 2:53 AM | Anderson County SC | 63 mph | Estimated |
| 3:20 AM | Yadkin County NC | 63 mph | Estimated |
| 4:00 AM | Martinsville VA | 63 mph | Estimated |
| 4:10 AM | Jackson County FL | 63 mph | Estimated |
| 4:14 AM | Worth County GA | 63 mph | Estimated |
| 4:26 AM | Rowan County NC | 63 mph | Estimated |
| 6:50 AM | Beaufort County SC | 63 mph | Estimated |
| 11:39 AM | Berkeley County WV | 63 mph | Estimated |
| 1:08 PM | Montgomery County MD | 63 mph | Estimated |
| 1:10 PM | Montgomery County MD | 63 mph | Estimated |
| 1:25 PM | Anne Arundel County MD | 63 mph | Estimated |
| 2:20 PM | Queen Anne's County MD | 63 mph | Estimated |
| 4:31 AM | Bulloch County GA | 62 mph | Measured |
| 1:37 AM | Okaloosa County FL | 61 mph | Measured |
By state
| Georgia | 161 | 62 mph |
| North Carolina | 119 | 69 mph |
| South Carolina | 94 | 66 mph |
| Maryland | 33 | 72 mph |
| Virginia | 28 | 59 mph |
| Alabama | 27 | — |
| Pennsylvania | 25 | 61 mph |
| Florida | 21 | 61 mph |
| New York | 17 | — |
| West Virginia | 9 | — |
| Delaware | 8 | 79 mph |
| New Jersey | 4 | 59 mph |
| Ohio | 1 | — |
| Tennessee | 1 | — |
Counties with the most wind reports
- Dorchester CountySC · 25 reports
- Coffee CountyAL · 18 reports
- Forsyth CountyNC · 12 reports
- Beaufort CountySC · 12 reports
- Montgomery CountyMD · 11 reports
- Worth CountyGA · 8 reports
- Wake CountyNC · 8 reports
- Twiggs CountyGA · 8 reports
- Houston CountyGA · 8 reports
- DeKalb CountyGA · 8 reports
Hail and tornadoes that day
4 hail reports, 0 of 2 inches or more; 68 tornadoes.
| 1:52 AM | Gwinnett County GA | 1.50 |
| 11:55 AM | Fairfax County VA | 1.00 |
| 1:20 PM | Montgomery County MD | 1.00 |
| 1:43 PM | Baltimore County MD | 1.00 |
The tornado outbreak of April 13, 2020: 68 tornadoes, each with its touchdown time and path.
2020 · On this date in other years · The biggest severe wind days
- A report is a single damage or measurement report to the National Weather Service. Several reports can describe one gust front, so reports are not storms.
- Reporting has grown with population, spotter networks and the internet, so counts from different decades are not directly comparable.
- Thunderstorm wind reports start at 50 knots (58 mph). SPC began flagging measured against estimated speeds in 2006; earlier reports are shown as estimated.
Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1955 to 2025. A day is SPC’s calendar date in Central Standard Time; a severe wind day here has 300 or more damaging wind reports, or 15 or more of 75 knots (86 mph) or more.