Tornadoes and Hail in Georgia, March 31, 1973

Name: Tornadoes and Hail in Georgia, March 31, 1973
Start: 1973-03-31T16:19
End: 1973-03-31T18:53
Location: Georgia

March 31, 1973 · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

5 tornado, 2 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 2
Injuries: 100
Property damage: $1.3 billion
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

Event by event

5 tornado, 2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail,

When: March 31, 4:19 PM CST
Where: County
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Coordinates: 34.300, -83.950

Tornado, Clayton

When: March 31, 4:30 PM CST
Where: Clayton County
Rating: F2
Path length: 27.4 mi
Path width: 500 yd
Property damage: $250 million
Coordinates: 33.530, -84.330

Tornado, Walton

When: March 31, 5:15 PM CST
Where: Walton County
Rating: F2
Path length: 22.1 mi
Path width: 500 yd
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 50 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250 million
Coordinates: 33.750, -83.930

Tornado, Oconee

When: March 31, 6:00 PM UNK
Where: Oconee County
Rating: F2
Path length: 7.2 mi
Path width: 500 yd
Property damage: $250 million
Coordinates: 33.880, -83.580

Tornado, Clarke

When: March 31, 6:15 PM CST
Where: Clarke County
Rating: F2
Path length: 12.4 mi
Path width: 500 yd
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 50 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250 million
Coordinates: 33.920, -83.470

Tornado, Oglethorpe

When: March 31, 6:25 PM CST
Where: Oglethorpe County
Rating: F2
Path length: 3.3 mi
Path width: 500 yd
Property damage: $250 million
Coordinates: 33.980, -83.270

Hail, Fayette

When: March 31, 6:53 PM CST
Where: Fayette County
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Coordinates: 33.520, -84.570

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Tornado, Walton	1973-03-31				Direct
Tornado, Clarke	1973-03-31				Direct

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Georgia in 1973 Every state in 1973 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Georgia, 1973

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 9996765, 9996766, 9996767, 9996768, 9996769, 9996770, 9996771.