Tornadoes · United States · Georgia

1998 tornadoes in Georgia

38 tornadoes touched down in Georgia in 1998, 46 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 19 people and injured 291.

1997 1999 The whole country in 1998

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2113 to 157 mph
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
F3158 to 206 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5261 to 318 mph
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Georgia in 1998

January 22 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 22	6:30 PM EST	F0	Jeff Davis	0.1	30			$10,000

February 3 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 3	6:00 PM EST	F0	Coffee	0.2	30			$3,000

February 16 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 16	12:26 AM EST	F0	Camden	0.2	30		1	$40,000
February 16	12:30 AM EST	F0	Glynn	0.5	40			$500,000

February 22 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 22	5:05 PM EST	F0	Charlton	0.5	30			$10,000

March 8 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 8	10:19 AM EST	F0	Coffee	0.1	30			$30,000
March 8	4:06 PM EST	F0	Appling	0.1	30			$2,000

March 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 20	6:25 AM EST	F3	Hall	4.0	100	12	171	$20 million

April 3 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 3	4:20 PM EST	F0	Stewart	1.0	80			$10,000
April 3	7:52 PM EST	F1	Spalding	6.0	250		1	$500,000

April 8 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 8	11:30 PM EDT	F1	Haralson	3.5	200			$300,000
April 8	12:20 AM EDT	F2	Cobb	3.5	200		4	$25 million
April 8	12:35 AM EDT	F2	DeKalb	19.0	800	1	10	$75 million

April 9 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 9	5:45 AM EDT	F3	Bryan	8.0	440	2	17	$2.7 million
April 9	6:35 AM EDT	F2	Long	24.5	400	4	31	$38 million

April 16 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 16	11:20 PM EDT	F1	Walker	0.5	50		2	$100,000
April 16	12:05 AM EDT	F1	Murray	0.5	100		10	$200,000

May 3 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 3	7:30 PM EDT	F0	Monroe	1.5	100		2	$100,000
May 3	7:33 PM EDT	F0	Monroe	0.1	50			$2,000

May 7 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
May 7	3:55 PM EDT	F0	Union	9.0	100		$50,000
May 7	6:24 PM EDT	F0	Elbert	0.1	30
May 7	7:33 PM EDT	F1	Lincoln	0.5	100		$50,000
May 7	7:41 PM EDT	F2	Lincoln	1.0	200	8	$300,000
May 7	7:47 PM EDT	F1	Lincoln	1.0	100		$50,000
May 7	7:53 PM EDT	F2	Lincoln	0.5	200		$350,000

May 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 8	2:10 PM EDT	F0	Chatham	5.0	40

May 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 10	2:20 PM EDT	F1	Screven	0.5	100			$10,000

September 3 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 3	11:23 AM EDT	F2	Screven	8.0	350		7	$430,000

September 29 10 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
September 29	6:05 AM EDT	F1	Mitchell	3.0	60	1	$500,000
September 29	2:00 PM EDT	F1	Randolph	0.5	70	1	$500,000
September 29	3:40 PM EDT	F1	Thomas	1.2	70		$450,000
September 29	4:15 PM EDT	F1	Colquitt	2.0	70	1	$550,000
September 29	4:30 PM EDT	F1	Sumter	0.2	50	12	$200,000
September 29	5:00 PM EDT	F1	Worth	1.7	90		$300,000
September 29	5:35 PM EDT	F1	Sumter	0.2	50	10	$200,000
September 29	6:10 PM EDT	F0	Sumter	0.2	50
September 29	6:30 PM EDT	F0	Decatur	0.6	40		$50,000
September 29	8:30 PM EDT	F1	Miller	2.0	80	2	$750,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Georgia since 1950 Warnings in force in Georgia The live radar over Georgia

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.