Tornadoes · United States · Georgia

2011 tornadoes in Georgia

39 tornadoes touched down in Georgia in 2011, 50 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 26 people and injured 400. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

2010 2012 The whole country in 2011

The rating scale

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

  1. EF065 to 85 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. EF2111 to 135 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.

  4. EF3136 to 165 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. EF5over 200 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.

  7. 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 2011

March 9 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 92:10 PM ESTEF0Colquitt0.430$4,000

March 26 7 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 265:40 PM EDTEF0Crisp0.7200$30,000
March 265:54 PM EDTEF0Lee0.310$5,000
March 266:35 PM EDTEF0Quitman0.110
March 267:22 PM EDTEF1Randolph0.420$65,000
March 267:40 PM EDTEF0Bulloch0.6100$40,000
March 267:42 PM EDTEF1Bulloch3.1440$250,000
March 269:36 PM EDTEF1Laurens3.5500$250,000

April 4 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 49:33 PM EDTEF1Gilmer2.6880$1.0 million
April 49:34 PM EDTEF0Gilmer1.8880$500,000
April 41:30 AM EDTEF1Bibb1.150$300,000

April 5 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 52:39 AM EDTEF2Dodge3.15012$150,000

April 15 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 157:50 PM EDTEF0Harris0.450$5,000

April 16 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 164:50 AM EDTEF1Chattahoochee0.350$250,000
April 166:02 AM EDTEF1Bibb3.5500$2.0 million

April 27 11 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 278:40 AM EDTEF1Dade9.9100$1.0 million
April 277:50 PM EDTEF1Dade3.0100$150,000
April 277:15 PM CDTEF4Ringgold–Apison tornado48.080020335$68 million
April 279:20 PM EDTEF3Bartow23.188025$23 million
April 2710:30 PM EDTEF3Lumpkin37.090011$5.8 million
April 2710:45 PM EDTEF1Troup17.01001$1.8 million
April 2711:20 PM EDTEF2Troup6.74406$10 million
April 2711:55 PM EDTEF2Harris24.51,320$8.5 million
April 2711:59 PM EDTEF3Meriwether21.78802$25 million
April 2712:38 AM EDTEF3Pike30.81,056222$15 million
April 271:11 AM EDTEF1Newton25.2880$8.2 million

April 28 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 282:50 AM EDTEF1Putnam6.7200$1.0 million
April 283:39 AM EDTEF1Warren7.8440$1.0 million
April 284:22 PM EDTEF0Glynn0.01

September 5 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 53:11 PM EDTEF1Cherokee28.44401$20 million

November 16 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 164:53 PM ESTEF0Richmond1.140$10,000
November 165:34 PM ESTEF1Burke6.5100$200,000
November 168:40 PM ESTEF1Ware0.2200$8,000

December 22 6 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 224:50 PM ESTEF2Floyd12.72003$2.3 million
December 225:03 PM ESTEF3Gordon11.48804$652,000
December 225:32 PM ESTEF1Gilmer1.5300$75,000
December 225:44 PM ESTEF1Coweta1.1100$150,000
December 226:16 PM ESTEF1Fayette1.6100$25,000
December 226:18 PM ESTEF0Fayette2.9200$25,000

Crossed into Georgia

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Georgia. They are counted under the state they began in.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 274:01 PM CDTEF4Jackson, AL to GA47.01,2601450$25 million
April 276:28 PM CDTEF4Shoal Creek Valley–Ohatchee tornado, Alabama and Georgia97.31,7602285$367 million
November 1611:52 AM CSTEF2Macon, AL to GA61.58804$9.5 million

Nearby

Every tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in GeorgiaThe 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.