Tornadoes and Hail in Georgia, April 3, 1974

Name: Tornadoes and Hail in Georgia, April 3, 1974
Start: 1974-04-03T12:00
End: 1974-04-03T20:00
Location: Georgia

April 3, 1974 · 17 events in 14 counties and zones

16 tornado, 1 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 16
Injuries: 122
Property damage: $26 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 17

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

16 tornado, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Gilmer

When: April 3, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Gilmer County
Rating: F2
Path length: 12.6 mi
Path width: 200 yd
Injuries: 3 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $2.5 million
Coordinates: 34.680, -84.500

Tornado, Fannin

When: April 3, 12:20 PM CST
Where: Fannin County
Rating: F2
Path length: 3 mi
Path width: 200 yd
Injuries: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $2.5 million
Coordinates: 34.820, -84.350

Tornado, Gordon

When: April 3, 4:40 PM CST
Where: Gordon County
Rating: F4
Path length: 6.6 mi
Path width: 150 yd
Deaths: 6 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 25 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $2.5 million
Coordinates: 34.500, -85.050

Tornado, Whitfield

When: April 3, 4:50 PM CST
Where: Whitfield County
Rating: F4
Path length: 3.3 mi
Path width: 150 yd
Deaths: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 25 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $2.5 million
Coordinates: 34.570, -84.970

Tornado, Haralson

When: April 3, 5:10 PM CST
Where: Haralson County
Rating: F2
Path length: 29.6 mi
Path width: 150 yd
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 5 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $2.5 million
Coordinates: 33.670, -85.350

Tornado, Murray

When: April 3, 5:10 PM CST
Where: Murray County
Rating: F4
Path length: 14.9 mi
Path width: 150 yd
Injuries: 15 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $2.5 million
Coordinates: 34.600, -84.930

Tornado, Paulding

When: April 3, 5:30 PM CST
Where: Paulding County
Rating: F2
Path length: 16.5 mi
Path width: 150 yd
Injuries: 8 direct, 0 indirect
Coordinates: 33.900, -84.920

Hail, Gordon

When: April 3, 5:30 PM CST
Where: Gordon County
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Coordinates: 34.580, -84.930

Tornado, Cobb

When: April 3, 5:50 PM CST
Where: Cobb County
Rating: F2
Path length: 2.3 mi
Path width: 150 yd
Injuries: 7 direct, 0 indirect
Coordinates: 34.080, -84.730

Tornado, Bartow

When: April 3, 5:55 PM CST
Where: Bartow County
Rating: F2
Path length: 3.8 mi
Path width: 150 yd
Coordinates: 34.100, -84.720

Tornado, Cherokee

When: April 3, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Cherokee County
Rating: F2
Path length: 3.3 mi
Path width: 150 yd
Coordinates: 34.130, -84.670

Tornado, Murray

When: April 3, 6:05 PM CST
Where: Murray County
Rating: F4
Path length: 4.7 mi
Path width: 200 yd
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 34.770, -84.770

Tornado, Pickens

When: April 3, 6:30 PM CST
Where: Pickens County
Rating: F4
Path length: 7.6 mi
Path width: 200 yd
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 17 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $2.5 million
Coordinates: 34.370, -84.330

Tornado, Dawson

When: April 3, 6:45 PM CST
Where: Dawson County
Rating: F4
Path length: 6.8 mi
Path width: 200 yd
Deaths: 5 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 13 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $2.5 million
Coordinates: 34.450, -84.250

Tornado, Lumpkin

When: April 3, 7:00 PM CST
Where: Lumpkin County
Rating: F4
Path length: 3.3 mi
Path width: 200 yd
Property damage: $2.5 million
Coordinates: 34.500, -84.150

Tornado, Fannin

When: April 3, 7:20 PM CST
Where: Fannin County
Rating: F4
Path length: 5.1 mi
Path width: 400 yd
Property damage: $2.5 million
Coordinates: 34.950, -84.300

Tornado, Rabun

When: April 3, 8:00 PM CST
Where: Rabun County
Rating: F2
Path length: 0.3 mi
Path width: 20 yd
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 34.970, -83.380

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	Kind
Tornado, Haralson	1974-04-03	Direct
Tornado, Murray	1974-04-03	Direct
Tornado, Pickens	1974-04-03	Direct

What these are

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.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Georgia in 1974 Every state in 1974 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Georgia, 1974

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: 9993537, 9993538, 9993539, 9993540, 9993541, 9993542, 9993543, 9993544, 9993545, 9993546, 9993550, 9993547, 9993548, 9993549, 9993551, 9993552, 9993553.