Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2025
EF0 tornado, Southwood to Apalachee Regional Park, Florida, March 31, 2025
From Southwood to Apalachee Regional Park, this EF0 tornado ran 1.9 miles across Leon County on March 31, 2025, touching down at 3:46 PM EDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
EF3136 to 165 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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.
The record
- Rating
- EF0
- Date
- March 31, 2025
- Touchdown
- 3:46 PM EDT (19:46 UTC)
- Lifted
- 3:49 PM EDT (19:49 UTC)
- On the ground
- 3 minutes
- Path length
- 1.9 miles (3.1 km)
- Path width
- 100 yards (91 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Leon County
- Touchdown point
- 30.370, -84.185
- Lift-off point
- 30.367, -84.153
- Record number
- 2503311346-01
The damage survey
4 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TAE, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 85 mph.
- Small young pine trees snapped.
Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.
What the Weather Service recorded
A strong spring cold front moved through the area with strong to severe storms ahead of it. Damaging winds gusts and a couple of tornadoes occurred across the tri-state region.
A tornado touched down along Tram Road in southeastern Leon County. The tornado snapped pine trees in several locations along the road as it travelled eastward. The tornado dissipated before reaching St. Joe Road. Damage was observed to trees and power lines consistent with winds of 80 to 85 mph. No damage to structures was observed along the track.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.
The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 15:52 UTC and running to 21:02 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15:52 UTC | 21:02 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | TAE |
| 18:54 UTC | 20:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE |
| 19:52 UTC | 20:13 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE |
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 forecast that day
The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:30 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 surface observations
Tallahassee Regional (TLH), 18 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17:50 UTC | 1013.5 | |||||
| 17:53 UTC | 79 | 69 | 200° 8 kt | 1013.5 | ||
| 17:55 UTC | 180° 5 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 18:00 UTC | 170° 5 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 18:05 UTC | 79 | 70 | 180° 6 kt | 1013.2 | ||
| 18:05 UTC | 180° 5 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 18:10 UTC | 190° 7 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 18:15 UTC | 190° 8 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 18:20 UTC | 190° 5 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 18:25 UTC | 180° 7 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 18:30 UTC | 140° 5 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 18:35 UTC | 140° 5 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 18:40 UTC | 160° 4 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 18:45 UTC | 160° 2 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 18:50 UTC | 170° 2 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 18:53 UTC | 79 | 70 | 190° 3 kt | 1012.9 | ||
| 18:55 UTC | 200° 2 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 19:00 UTC | 200° 4 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 19:05 UTC | 200° 2 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 19:10 UTC | 210° 4 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 19:15 UTC | 200° 2 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 19:20 UTC | 0° 0 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 19:25 UTC | 0° 0 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 19:26 UTC | 79 | 70 | 0° 0 kt | 1012.9 | TS | |
| 19:30 UTC | 1014.2 | -RA | ||||
| 19:35 UTC | 1014.6 | +RA | ||||
| 19:38 UTC | 69 | 65 | 290° 13 kt | 26 | 1014.6 | +TSRA BR |
| 19:40 UTC | 290° 9 kt | 1014.9 | +RA | |||
| 19:45 UTC | 260° 10 kt | 1015.2 | +RA BR | |||
| 19:50 UTC | 280° 7 kt | 1014.9 | +RA | |||
| 19:53 UTC | 67 | 65 | 310° 7 kt | 17 | 1014.2 | +TSRA |
| 19:55 UTC | 310° 7 kt | 1014.2 | +RA | |||
| 20:00 UTC | 320° 7 kt | 1014.2 | -RA | |||
| 20:03 UTC | 68 | 65 | 320° 7 kt | 1014.6 | -TSRA | |
| 20:05 UTC | 310° 5 kt | 1014.2 | -RA | |||
| 20:10 UTC | 260° 5 kt | 1014.6 | -RA | |||
| 20:14 UTC | 67 | 66 | 210° 4 kt | 1014.6 | -TSRA | |
| 20:15 UTC | 190° 5 kt | 1014.6 | -RA | |||
| 20:20 UTC | 140° 5 kt | 1014.2 | -RA | |||
| 20:30 UTC | 0° 0 kt | 1013.9 | -RA | |||
| 20:35 UTC | 0° 0 kt | 1013.9 | -RA | |||
| 20:40 UTC | 0° 0 kt | 1013.5 | -RA | |||
| 20:41 UTC | 67 | 67 | 200° 3 kt | 1013.5 | -RA | |
| 20:45 UTC | 0° 0 kt | 1013.2 | -RA | |||
| 20:50 UTC | 10° 5 kt | 1012.9 | -RA | |||
| 20:53 UTC | 67 | 64 | 10° 4 kt | 1012.9 | -RA | |
| 20:55 UTC | 50° 2 kt | 1012.9 | -RA | |||
| 21:00 UTC | 190° 7 kt | 1013.5 | -RA | |||
| 21:05 UTC | 170° 7 kt | 1013.5 | -RA | |||
| 21:10 UTC | 130° 7 kt | 1013.2 | -RA | |||
| 21:15 UTC | 100° 5 kt | 1012.5 | -RA | |||
| 21:20 UTC | 70° 2 kt | 1012.5 | -RA | |||
| 21:25 UTC | 80° 2 kt | 1012.5 | ||||
| 21:30 UTC | 120° 4 kt | 1012.5 | -RA | |||
| 21:35 UTC | 140° 7 kt | 1012.5 | -RA | |||
| 21:40 UTC | 140° 7 kt | 1012.5 | -RA | |||
| 21:45 UTC | 110° 5 kt | 1012.2 | -RA |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 16 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:48 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.
What was reported nearby
Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:15 UTC | TSTM WND GST 43 | Quincy Airport | Gadsden, FL | K2J9 gusted to 43 mph at 3:15pm EDT. |
| 19:19 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Havana | Gadsden, FL | Gadsden County dispatch reported a tree down in Havana. Time estimated by radar. |
| 19:20 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | 1 Ene Bloxham | Leon, FL | A trained spotter reported dime to nickel size hail in Bloxham. |
| 19:32 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Sse Bradfordville | Leon, FL | Emergency Manager reported a tree down on a house. |
| 19:32 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Ne Killearn Estates | Leon, FL | Emergency Manager reports a tree down near the intersection of Pimlico Drive and Jamaica Court. |
| 19:32 UTC | TSTM WND GST 51 | Florida State Universit | Leon, FL | The weather station on top of the Love Building at the NWS Tallahassee office recorded a wind gust of 51 mph. |
| 19:38 UTC | TSTM WND GST 44 | 2 Sw Killearn Estates | Leon, FL | Northeast Tallahassee WeatherSTEM reported a gust of 44 mph. |
| 19:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 S Apalachee Regional | Leon, FL | Emergency manager reports much of Tram Road covered in branches and about 4 trees down near and west of the intersection of Tram Road and Saint Joe Road. |
| 19:46 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Se Southwood | Leon, FL | EF0 confirmed by storm survey. Started at 3:46 pm EDT and ended at 3:49 pm EDT. |
| 20:02 UTC | TSTM WND GST 42 | Kleman Plaza | Leon, FL | Ballard Partners FL US WNW Weatherflow station reported a wind gust of 42 mph. |
| 20:07 UTC | TSTM WND GST 44 | 2 Sw Pisgah Church | Leon, FL | Montford Middle FL US NNW gusted to 44 mph. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2025 tornado in FloridaEvery tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in Florida nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of March 31, 2025
14 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 31 | 4:22 AM CDT | EF2 | Saint Landry Parish, LA | 1.8 | 250 | $30,000 | ||
| March 31 | 5:37 AM CDT | EF1 | Simpson, MS | 3.3 | 340 | $300,000 | ||
| March 31 | 6:01 AM CDT | EF0 | Lowndes, MS | 0.7 | 60 | $5,000 | ||
| March 31 | 6:07 AM CDT | EF1 | Lowndes, MS | 5.8 | 300 | $200,000 | ||
| March 31 | 6:30 AM CDT | EF2 | Marion, MS | 7.3 | 300 | $2.3 million | ||
| March 31 | 6:54 AM CDT | EF0 | Livingston Parish, LA | 3.2 | 25 | |||
| March 31 | 12:10 PM EDT | EF0 | Carroll, GA | 5.3 | 300 | |||
| March 31 | 12:32 PM EDT | EF0 | Coweta, GA | 5.0 | 250 | |||
| March 31 | 12:54 PM EDT | EF0 | Fayette, GA | 0.2 | 100 | |||
| March 31 | 1:08 PM EDT | EF1 | Henry, GA | 6.5 | 100 | |||
| March 31 | 12:22 PM CDT | EF0 | Dale, AL | 0.7 | 50 | $25,000 | ||
| March 31 | 12:31 PM CDT | EF1 | Houston, AL | 3.1 | 200 | 5 | $500,000 | |
| March 31 | 2:11 PM EDT | EF0 | Peach, GA | 6.9 | 100 | |||
| March 31 | 2:13 PM EDT | EF0 | Houston, GA | 3.6 | 100 |
What this means
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.
Sources
NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.