Home / Georgia / Gwinnett

F2 tornado in Gwinnett County, Georgia

Tornado April 8, 1998 – April 9, 1998 · Gwinnett County, Georgia

Rating

19.0 mi

Whole path

800 yd

Path width

Death

Injuries

$75.0M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through De Kalb County → Gwinnett County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 800 yards (0.45 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F2 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F2 meant considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted; the scale paired it with winds of 113–157 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

Significant widespread damage continued into Gwinnett county in a path from Norcross through Duluth and Suwanee to north of Lawrenceville. Large trees were knocked down or snapped. Many of them fell on homes and apartments causing damage. Roofs were torn off of houses. At least 5000 homes were affected. Ten people at an apartment complex were treated for minor injuries.

Began near Norcross (33.9300, -84.2300).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

2 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

F2 Cobb County F1 Haralson County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5639756. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.