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EF1 tornado in Mitchell County, Georgia

Tornado March 16, 2025 · Mitchell County, Georgia

EF1
Rating
5.3 mi
Path length
1,200 yd
Path width
$300K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,200 yards (0.68 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

This tornado was rated EF1 with max winds estimated at 105 mph. The tornado began south of Highway 37 in an open field between Rigsby Lake and Antioch Road, where it snapped and uprooted a few hardwood trees, and also bent a portion of a center-pivot irrigation apparatus. It then moved quickly northeast and crossed Highway 37 into Pebble City, where it destroyed two structures: A tin volunteer fire department building, and a community/voting center, which collapsed onto itself when the supporting cinder blocks gave way. The tornado also snapped numerous softwood trees behind both of these structures. As it raced northeastward towards Sale City Road, the tornado snapped more softwood trees and a few wooden power poles. When it reached Millard Road, the tornado continued to snap trees, with more extensive tree damage being noted along Massey Bog Road. As it moved just east of Highway 93 along Old Doerun Road, the tornado caused a double-wide manufactured home with straps to shift approximately 18 inches off its cinder block foundation, blew out the windows of two single family homes, and uprooted several softwood trees. Before it dissipated at Greenough Road, the tornado uprooted another softwood tree.

The wider storm

A moist and unstable airmass with steep mid-level lapse rates ahead of a cold front resulted in scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms. Large hail occurred across southeast Alabama, and sporadic wind damage occurred across the Florida panhandle. One tornado occurred in southwest Georgia.

Began near Sale City (31.2453, -84.0760).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1239421. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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