EF3 tornado, Gilberts Mill to Orange Hill, Florida, March 31, 2022

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. EF3136 to 165 mphthis tornado

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. EF5over 200 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

EF3

Date

March 31, 2022

Touchdown

4:09 AM CDT (09:09 UTC)

Lifted

4:24 AM CDT (09:24 UTC)

On the ground

15 minutes

Path length

12.1 miles (19.5 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

2

Injuries

1

Property damage

$600,000

Counties

Washington and Jackson counties

Touchdown point

30.638, -85.511

Lift-off point

30.754, -85.359

Record number

2203310309-01

82 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TAE, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF3. The highest wind the damage implies is 150 mph.

• At edge of tornadic circulation.
• At the edge of the width of the tornado
• Roof is removed/collapsed. Can see into the living room or bedroom
• Carport lifted off support. Was nailed (rubar) to the ground. Lifted, twisted, set down almost 45-90° turn

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

The tri-state area was on the eastern edge of a large tornado outbreak that impacted numerous areas of central and south-central Alabama, Mississippi, and the Florida panhandle. One EF3 tornado touched down in Washington County, FL, resulting in two fatalities.

An EF-3 tornado tracked through Washington County into Jackson County Florida during the early morning hours of Thursday, March 31, 2022. The tornado began near Roland Rd and Ovid Ln in Washington County where it snapped tree trunks as it moved northeastward. The tornado crossed Orange Hill Rd and continued on to Gilberts Mill Rd. On Gilberts Mill Rd near Stewart Rd, a barn was destroyed and a manufactured home was damaged and shifted on its foundation, which is in line with EF-1 damage. Snapped and uprooted trees were observed all along Gilberts Mill Rd. Further northeast, a manufactured home sustained significant damage and several outbuildings were destroyed. A camper and a greenhouse were also destroyed here, consistent with EF-1 damage. The tornado strengthened as it continued northeastward along Gilberts Mill Rd before completely destroying and sweeping away an anchored double wide manufactured home and a newer, anchored single wide home. The double wide home was the site of the two fatalities, and one person in the single wide was injured when he was thrown into the tree line grasping his mattress. Several projectiles were driven into the ground at this location. A large boat was also thrown from its trailer and overturned. Damage at this location was consistent with strong EF-2 winds. The tornado continued to strengthen as it moved across Jewel Rd and at that location, a well-built brick home was partially destroyed and likely was sideswiped by the tornado. The end of the home that was hit sustained major collapse of roof and exterior brick walls as well as a generator ripped from its anchoring and thrown across a field. The other end of the home was less severely damaged but still suffered major roof loss. A car in the driveway was pushed off of the driveway, and an attached carport was destroyed. Across the street, a wood frame home with block foundation was completely destroyed and swept from the foundation, leaving only some cinder blocks and a floor joist. The debris from the house was thrown into a pole barn which was also destroyed. An injury occurred at this site when the home occupant ran to the barn and dove under his pickup truck. The damage to this home and the brick home are consistent with EF3 damage and maximum winds of 150 mph. The tornado weakened some as it moved northeast, inflicting roof damage to a home and damage to out buildings along Archie Sapp Rd. On Syfrett Rd, several sheds and outbuildings were destroyed, a single wide manufactured home was flipped onto its side, and a brick home sustained major roof damage. This damage along Archie Sapp Rd and Syfrett Rd are consistent with EF1 damage. The tornado snapped a couple of tree trunks along Dilmore Rd before lifting just south of Interstate 10 near Standland Rd.

The deaths

2 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

27 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 08:42 UTC, 27 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 09:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 04:27 UTC and running to 10:42 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Marginal Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:55 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 49 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 09:08 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2022 tornado in FloridaEvery tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in Florida nowThe forecast where you are

7 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.