EF0 Tornado — Burke, Georgia

2025-03-16 · near Girard, Burke, Georgia

Event narrative

A National Weather Service storm survey determined that one of two close proximity EF-0 tornadoes touched down east of Girard, GA with peak wind speeds of 80 mph. The northernmost tornado began near the intersection of Stoney Bluff Road and Thankful Church Road where it snapped several pine trees. The tornado then continued northeast into an inaccessible heavily wooded area, before snapping additional pine trees along River Road. Given a lack of access, this tornado is assumed to have dissipated just prior to reaching the Savannah River.

Wider weather episode

A surface low drifted into Great Lakes region with a cold front and line of convection nearing the forecast area by the early morning hours. Very strong shear dominated throughout the event with instability rather meager. The line of convection moved across the area from the west between 11z and 18-19z, bringing multiple reports of straight line wind damage but with the shear profile in place, two EF-0 tornadoes were confirmed in Burke county Georgia. No injuries were reported with these tornadoes with tree damage being the primary indicator for each tornado.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.0272, -81.6758)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1232492. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.