Georgia among top states for twisters this year, outpacing several in ‘tornado alley’
Georgia has seen more than two dozen tornadoes so far this year, ranking among states with the most twisters in 2021.
The Peach State placed fifth in the nation for reported tornadoes, according to an annual report by the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center. To date, there have been at least 30 tornadoes, including a destructive EF-4 that leveled homes, schools and businesses in Newnan in late March.
Storms also unleashed at least six twisters in North Georgia earlier this month, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Texas, the nation’s second largest state by area, took the top spot for the number of reported tornadoes this year — 79 in all, data show.
But the next five states are all in the Southeast, lending to the thought that “tornado alley” could be moving east. Alabama has had 77 twisters, followed by Mississippi with 66, Louisiana with 37, Georgia with 30 and Tennessee with 27.
The NWS report is based on preliminary data and is subject to changes.
Other than Texas, Georgia has already seen more tornadoes than other states in “tornado alley,” a region of the southern Plains known for a “disproportionately high frequency of tornadoes,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The region’s boundaries are arguable, but usually include the area stretching from central Texas through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and parts of the upper Midwest, As of May 19, there have been seven reported tornadoes in Oklahoma, four in Kansas and eight in Nebraska, according to the Storm Prediction Center report.
Peak “tornado season” differs from region to region, however. States in tornado alley typically see a higher frequency of twisters between May and early June while tornado season in the Southeast begins earlier in the spring.
Tornadoes can happen any time of year in Georgia, but things tend to ramp up starting in February through April, said Dave Nadler, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Peachtree City.
“It starts to come down in May,” Nadler told McClatchy News in an interview. “And then in June, we start to transition to more of a summertime pattern that just lowers the probability of seeing tornadoes across the state.”
On average, the state sees about 35 reported tornadoes per year, Nadler said. However, that number can vary and Georgia has seen a few anomalies in recent years.
“Back in 2017, we had almost 150 [twisters] and in 2018 we had below 35,” he recalled.
Nadler said NWS Atlanta has yet to release an official count of documented tornadoes in the state through May, and noted that preliminary data can take months to be verified.
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