EF1 Tornado — Muscogee, Georgia

2025-04-06 · near Flat Rock, Muscogee, Georgia

Event narrative

A supercell embedded within a line of strong to severe

thunderstorms generated a tornado that touched down in northern

Muscogee County, just a few miles northeast of downtown Columbus.

Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted along Widgeon Road and Trapper Way, extending to Psalmond Road. Structural damage in the neighborhood was mainly confined to a few homes with trees falling on them. The tornado continued to track northeast, crossing the Bull Creek Golf Course. Numerous additional trees were down

across the 500-acre public course. Unfortunately, 2 people trying

to seek shelter under a tree during the storms were killed. Based

on the location of where the fatalities occurred, we believe they

weren't in the direct path of the actual tornado but very strong

(75+ mph) inflow winds helped snap the trees. The tornado

paralleled Hwy 27 (alternate) also known as Manchester Expressway

snapping and uprooting additional medium to large-sized trees. EF-

1 damage is estimated between the Beaver Run neighborhood and

Lynch Road near Hwy 27 (south side) where maximum winds were

around 90 mph. Additional trees were snapped along Jackson Road

and Lynch Road but a weakening trend is noted in the damage here.

A few branches down along Midland Woods Drive (just south of Hwy

27) is where an estimated ending point is located. No additional

damage was noted to the northeast of this area.

Wider weather episode

A line of thunderstorms moved into northwest GA in the early morning hours of the 6th. Storms were weakening as instability continued to fall, however some portions of the line were able to develop stronger wind gusts. The line surged northward as the day progressed and delayed the arrival of the line for areas further south. This allowed for instability to redevelop. As the line moved into central GA, storms strengthened causing sporadic wind damage and two brief tornados (one in Columbus and one in Macon). The line of storms surged ahead of the incoming cold front and tapered off through the overnight hours. Storms then refired along the cold front (behind the initial line) during the morning hours of the 7th producing several rotations requiring tornado warnings in the southern CWA and a tornado which moved from Spalding to Henry county.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.5445, -84.8633)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1257559. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.