Tornadoes · United States · Georgia

2012 tornadoes in Georgia

15 tornadoes touched down in Georgia in 2012, 42 percent below the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2011 2013 The whole country in 2012

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 2012

January 21 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 2112:10 PM ESTEF1Coweta1.0200$10,000
January 213:45 PM ESTEF1Macon8.2200$300,000
January 214:15 PM ESTEF0Dooly10.430$25,000

February 22 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 2210:12 PM ESTEF1Floyd3.375$1.6 million

February 24 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 241:42 PM ESTEF0Colquitt3.850$20,000

March 2 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 28:09 PM ESTEF3Haralson29.02001$12 million
March 29:14 PM ESTEF1Cobb1.4150$75,000

March 3 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 37:15 AM ESTEF0Miller0.325$20,000
March 38:30 AM ESTEF0Decatur3.325$35,000
March 312:56 PM ESTEF3Lanier10.4390$750,000

March 23 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 233:20 PM EDTEF0Early3.525$5,000

July 18 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 183:42 PM EDTEF0Glynn0.525

December 17 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 171:46 PM ESTEF1Wheeler0.475
December 171:48 PM ESTEF0Telfair1.115
December 171:49 PM ESTEF1Wheeler0.375$5,000

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.