Tornadoes in Atlanta area - relocation newbies from NJ (Adairsville: homes, tornado)

[PAV85]

As we approach closer to relocating down to the Atlanta area (expected to be April/May), my wife and I saw on the news that GA. experienced a touchdown of 5 tornadoes yesterday. And although I posted a question of weather on this forum some time ago, where someone said that tornadoes are not a big thing in GA., clearly that doesn't seem to be the case.

My only question is do the tornadoes that you folks experience concentrate in any particular area of the state at all, or is everywhere a free for all? That may be a silly question, but up here in the Northeast, we never experience tornadoes.

[erick295]

What do you consider a "big thing?" They're common all over the coastal South but they're smaller than the ones farther west and your chances of being in one are pretty infinitesimally small. They do seem to like crossing interstates for some reason... you can't go many directions out of Atlanta without seeing a path cut across the road (Adairsville being the newest).

Georgia does get a lot of strong storms during the spring and summer, but being a Florida native I've seen worse

[MattCW]

The Northwestern suburbs seem more likely to get hit than east of Atlanta. There are always outliers though. There does seem to be a "downtown shield" in that tornadoes rarely make it to Atlanta proper however. The 2008 tornado being a notable exception of course. Bottom line, any area in the state is vulnerable, even the mountains, but close in to Atlanta is statistically less likely to be hit based purely on records.

[Newsboy]

Georgia's "tornado alley" is in the NW quandrant of the state, basically the section bounded by I-20 to the south and I-75 to the east from the Alabama state line. In Metro Atlanta this would include Cobb, Paulding, Cherokee and Bartow counties, where yeaterday's tornado touched down. There are both geographical and meteorological reasons for this (the mountains mostly) and it's in no way hard and fast. Tornadoes can and do occur anywhere in Georgia just as they can anywhere in the South or nation. But that's no reason not to move to a place. It would be like me not wanting to move to New Jersey out of fear of hurricanes.

[Lady's Man]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

Georgia's "tornado alley" is in the NW quandrant of the state, basically the section bounded by I-20 to the south and I-75 to the east from the Alabama state line. In Metro Atlanta this would include Cobb, Paulding, Cherokee and Bartow counties, where yeaterday's tornado touched down. There are both geographical and meteorological reasons for this (the mountains mostly) and it's in no way hard and fast. Tornadoes can and do occur anywhere in Georgia just as they can anywhere in the South or nation. But that's no reason not to move to a place. It would be like me not wanting to move to New Jersey out of fear of hurricanes.

there was a pretty bad tornado in griffin in 2011.


State road 92 between griffin and fayetteville ga - YouTube


i remember driving up 92 seeing the damage.... such an eerie feeling

[tonygeorgia]

They are rare but they happen. No different than hurricanes and blizzards in NJ

[MathmanMathman]

A solution would be for the home to have a basement as you are always advised to go to a low lying area. But basements are not that common in Atlanta homes for some reason.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by tonygeorgia

They are rare but they happen. No different than hurricanes and blizzards in NJ

I'd say an Atlanta tornado is much more common than a NJ hurricane.

[Ant131531]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

I'd say an Atlanta tornado is much more common than a NJ hurricane.

Mainly because tornadoes can form anytime of the year while hurricanes can only form half of the year and it takes much more for a hurricane to spin up and hit the east coast.

[DONNIEANDDONNA417]

but there is rarely a tornado in atlanta in january...this is unusual