The tornado touched down in south central Paulding County, tracked near Dallas between Hiram and Dallas, and then lifted up just before it crossed into Cobb County. Nitz said the tornado was on the ground for 12 minutes. Its path was 11.65 miles long and 200 yards wide and reached wind speeds of 110 mph.

Saturday’s Paulding County Tornado was rated by the National Weather Service in Peachtree City Georgia as a high end EF-1 tornado with maximum winds 105-110 mph.

Millions of Americans across the country are on alert for a severe weather outbreak as violent, long-track tornadoes with damaging winds of up to 80 mph and large hail are expected across the Midwest and South with the cross-country storm moving east.

Meanwhile, the severe weather threat will linger through Sunday from Florida northward into the upper Ohio River Valley, forecasters warned.