No, the video does not show the Atlanta tornadoes of 2024

Claim: Video shows footage of 2024 Atlanta tornado

A video posted to Facebook on July 24 (direct link, archive link) shows a montage of tornado footage. Most of the tornadoes in the video are large, and many clips show them damaging homes or infrastructure.

“Tornado in Atlanta 2024,” the video caption reads.

More information from the Fact-Check team: How we screen and investigate claims | E-newsletter | Facebook Page

Our rating: False

According to a local meteorologist, none of the footage in the video is set in Atlanta in 2024. At least one of the clips appears to have been digitally generated.

Tornado footage not from Atlanta in 2024

Although a tornado occurred in the Atlanta metro area in April 2024, it does not appear in the video, Dylan Lusk, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service who works in Georgia, told USA TODAY.

“Nothing of this magnitude or visibility has happened in Atlanta this year,” he said after watching the video.

He also said that unlike the tornadoes in the video, most (but not all) of the tornadoes that occur in the Southeast are difficult to see because they are “rain-shrouded,” meaning they are obscured by heavy rain.

The Lansing State Journal reports that there were 14 tornadoes in Georgia in 2024, injuring 7 people and causing $826,000 in damage.

Fact Check:Old tornado clips mistakenly presented as 2024 footage in Dallas

USA TODAY determined that some of the clips in the post were shared online before 2024. These include videos uploaded to YouTube in 2014 and 2022. Still images from other clips were posted by media outlets in 2016 and 2021. They show tornadoes in Colorado and Kansas, respectively.

The first clip of the video, showing a green tornado outside a shopping mall, is clearly digitally generated, Lusk said.

“A lot of things don’t seem right, from the way the wind moves through the tornado, to its color, to the way the cloud structures appear around it,” he said.

USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

Our fact-checking sources:

Dylan Lusk, July 26, telephone interview with USA TODAY
Greg Johnson (YouTube), June 16, 2014, Buildings flying through the air! Deadly tornado in Nebraska
La Risa Glitter Sparkle (YouTube), June 1, 2022, Andover Tornado 2022
The Washington Post, May 9, 2016, Close-up images of visually spectacular tornado in Colorado
The Guardian, February 14, 2021, Among the storm chasers: witnessing the terrifying power of tornadoes
Lansing State Journal, accessed July 29, A History of Tornadoes: Georgia Tornadoes 2024

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Claim: Video shows footage of 2024 Atlanta tornado

Our rating: False

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