Tornadoes · United States · Georgia

2020 tornadoes in Georgia

59 tornadoes touched down in Georgia in 2020, 127 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 11 people and injured 53.

2019 2021 The whole country in 2020

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 2020

January 11 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 114:52 PM ESTEF0Paulding3.9400$100,000
January 115:24 PM ESTEF0Fannin3.0450$250,000
January 115:48 PM ESTEF1Upson0.3100$200,000

January 13 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 1311:51 PM ESTEF0Pike1.5100$25,000
January 1312:20 AM ESTEF0Spalding0.350$24,000

February 6 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 65:28 AM ESTEF0Gordon2.2200$60,000
February 69:05 PM ESTEF0Ware0.250

April 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 88:22 PM EDTEF0Lanier4.4300$100,000

April 12 8 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 128:15 PM EDTEF2Chattooga14.7800$400,000
April 129:45 PM EDTEF2Murray8.9860824$500,000
April 1210:15 PM CDTEF3Chattanooga tornado19.31,500218$250,000
April 1212:31 AM EDTEF0Floyd0.150$10,000
April 1212:42 AM EDTEF0Floyd3.250$10,000
April 121:06 AM EDTEF1Bartow12.825012$100,000
April 121:32 AM EDTEF1Cherokee0.7100$250,000
April 121:53 AM EDTEF0Harris3.850$20,000

April 13 22 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 132:08 AM EDTEF0Talbot2.9100$25,000
April 132:19 AM EDTEF3Upson16.61,200$305,000
April 132:36 AM EDTEF0Fulton2.850$50,000
April 132:40 AM EDTEF3Monroe5.33001$10 million
April 132:49 AM EDTEF1Banks14.3200$130,000
April 133:00 AM EDTEF1Bibb3.7300$250,000
April 133:07 AM EDTEF1Stephens8.7500$20,000
April 133:18 AM EDTEF1Putnam12.9300$100,000
April 133:38 AM EDTEF1Greene6.4350$500,000
April 134:01 AM EDTEF0Washington1.750$20,000
April 134:05 AM EDTEF0Washington3.1100$50,000
April 134:12 AM EDTEF0Washington1.0100$50,000
April 134:18 AM EDTEF1Washington14.2220$270,000
April 134:53 AM EDTEF2Burke16.5700
April 135:36 AM EDTEF1Tift3.6100$200,000
April 134:58 AM CDTEF1Screven to SC5.9200
April 136:01 AM EDTEF1Irwin1.950
April 136:39 AM EDTEF0Coffee1.2125
April 137:25 AM EDTEF1Wayne4.84408
April 137:37 AM EDTEF1Long3.2500
April 137:47 AM EDTEF0Long0.4100
April 138:11 AM EDTEF1Liberty8.9250

April 20 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 202:10 AM EDTEF2Worth8.7500$350,000

April 23 6 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 2312:05 PM EDTEF1Mitchell2.4176$100,000
April 2312:34 PM EDTEF1Colquitt37.2650$200,000
April 231:28 PM EDTEF0Lanier2.250
April 232:05 PM EDTEF0Ware9.050
April 232:59 PM EDTEF0Glynn0.550
April 233:37 PM EDTEF0Camden0.350

May 30 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 301:30 PM EDTUnratedScreven0.130

September 16 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 164:30 PM EDTEF0Cook2.250
September 164:40 PM EDTEF0Brooks3.050
September 164:46 PM EDTEF0Brooks5.350
September 165:06 PM EDTEF0Thomas2.350
September 167:33 PM EDTEF1Ware0.2200$40,000

September 17 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 172:54 AM EDTEF1Effingham2.7150

October 10 7 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 104:34 PM EDTEF1Newton1.475$250,000
October 106:12 PM EDTEF0Coweta0.390$100,000
October 106:18 PM EDTEF0Coweta1.090$50,000
October 106:27 PM EDTEF0Pike2.1200$50,000
October 107:45 PM EDTEF0Clayton0.6150$40,000
October 108:16 PM EDTEF0DeKalb1.7250$250,000
October 108:43 PM EDTEF0Gwinnett0.7200$100,000

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
March 3111:34 AM CDTEF2Barbour, AL to GA30.03501$50,000
April 129:50 PM CDTEF1Dade, AL to GA7.5350$700,000

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.