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EF1 tornado in Spalding County, Georgia

Tornado April 7, 2025 · Spalding County, Georgia

EF1
Rating
18.2 mi
Whole path
250 yd
Path width

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Coweta County → Spalding County → Fayette County → Spalding County → Spalding County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 250 yards (0.14 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

Further

northeast along New Salem Road several trees were snapped and

uprooted including one onto a home. The tornado continued ENE

along Vaughn School Road downing trees and powerlines and

eventually reaching hwy 92 and Vineyard Road and Steele Road.

Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted particularly in the area

around Steele road region between Steele and Vineyard road, and

it was in this area where the tornado reached EF1 intensity with

estimated max winds of 90 mph. Not long after reaching max

intensity, radar data and ground survey both conclude that the

tornado began to occlude and weaken as a new tornadic circulation

began to form approximately 1.5 miles north. Tree damage was

noted along Caldwell Road eastward to Patterson road where this

tornado weakened and lifted. At the same time this tornado

weakened along Patterson Road south of Manley road, approximately

7:38 AM EDT, a new tornado was developing along Patterson road

1.5 miles north.

The wider storm

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.

Began near Digbey (33.2670, -84.4310).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

3 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1258758. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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