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.

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

    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 mph

    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.

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)ExpiredProductOffice
15:52 UTC21:02 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchTAE
18:54 UTC20:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAE
19:52 UTC20:13 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAE

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)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
17:50 UTC 1013.5
17:53 UTC7969200° 8 kt1013.5
17:55 UTC180° 5 kt1013.2
18:00 UTC170° 5 kt1013.2
18:05 UTC7970180° 6 kt1013.2
18:05 UTC180° 5 kt1013.2
18:10 UTC190° 7 kt1013.2
18:15 UTC190° 8 kt1013.2
18:20 UTC190° 5 kt1013.2
18:25 UTC180° 7 kt1012.9
18:30 UTC140° 5 kt1012.9
18:35 UTC140° 5 kt1012.9
18:40 UTC160° 4 kt1012.9
18:45 UTC160° 2 kt1012.9
18:50 UTC170° 2 kt1012.9
18:53 UTC7970190° 3 kt1012.9
18:55 UTC200° 2 kt1013.2
19:00 UTC200° 4 kt1012.9
19:05 UTC200° 2 kt1012.9
19:10 UTC210° 4 kt1012.9
19:15 UTC200° 2 kt1012.9
19:20 UTC0° 0 kt1012.9
19:25 UTC0° 0 kt1012.9
19:26 UTC79700° 0 kt1012.9TS
19:30 UTC 1014.2-RA
19:35 UTC 1014.6+RA
19:38 UTC6965290° 13 kt261014.6+TSRA BR
19:40 UTC290° 9 kt1014.9+RA
19:45 UTC260° 10 kt1015.2+RA BR
19:50 UTC280° 7 kt1014.9+RA
19:53 UTC6765310° 7 kt171014.2+TSRA
19:55 UTC310° 7 kt1014.2+RA
20:00 UTC320° 7 kt1014.2-RA
20:03 UTC6865320° 7 kt1014.6-TSRA
20:05 UTC310° 5 kt1014.2-RA
20:10 UTC260° 5 kt1014.6-RA
20:14 UTC6766210° 4 kt1014.6-TSRA
20:15 UTC190° 5 kt1014.6-RA
20:20 UTC140° 5 kt1014.2-RA
20:30 UTC0° 0 kt1013.9-RA
20:35 UTC0° 0 kt1013.9-RA
20:40 UTC0° 0 kt1013.5-RA
20:41 UTC6767200° 3 kt1013.5-RA
20:45 UTC0° 0 kt1013.2-RA
20:50 UTC10° 5 kt1012.9-RA
20:53 UTC676410° 4 kt1012.9-RA
20:55 UTC50° 2 kt1012.9-RA
21:00 UTC190° 7 kt1013.5-RA
21:05 UTC170° 7 kt1013.5-RA
21:10 UTC130° 7 kt1013.2-RA
21:15 UTC100° 5 kt1012.5-RA
21:20 UTC70° 2 kt1012.5-RA
21:25 UTC80° 2 kt1012.5
21:30 UTC120° 4 kt1012.5-RA
21:35 UTC140° 7 kt1012.5-RA
21:40 UTC140° 7 kt1012.5-RA
21:45 UTC110° 5 kt1012.2-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)ReportWhereCountyRemark
19:15 UTCTSTM WND GST 43Quincy AirportGadsden, FLK2J9 gusted to 43 mph at 3:15pm EDT.
19:19 UTCTSTM WND DMGHavanaGadsden, FLGadsden County dispatch reported a tree down in Havana. Time estimated by radar.
19:20 UTCHAIL 0.881 Ene BloxhamLeon, FLA trained spotter reported dime to nickel size hail in Bloxham.
19:32 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Sse BradfordvilleLeon, FLEmergency Manager reported a tree down on a house.
19:32 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Ne Killearn EstatesLeon, FLEmergency Manager reports a tree down near the intersection of Pimlico Drive and Jamaica Court.
19:32 UTCTSTM WND GST 51Florida State UniversitLeon, FLThe weather station on top of the Love Building at the NWS Tallahassee office recorded a wind gust of 51 mph.
19:38 UTCTSTM WND GST 442 Sw Killearn EstatesLeon, FLNortheast Tallahassee WeatherSTEM reported a gust of 44 mph.
19:40 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 S Apalachee RegionalLeon, FLEmergency 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 UTCTORNADO2 Se SouthwoodLeon, FLEF0 confirmed by storm survey. Started at 3:46 pm EDT and ended at 3:49 pm EDT.
20:02 UTCTSTM WND GST 42Kleman PlazaLeon, FLBallard Partners FL US WNW Weatherflow station reported a wind gust of 42 mph.
20:07 UTCTSTM WND GST 442 Sw Pisgah ChurchLeon, FLMontford 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.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 314:22 AM CDTEF2Saint Landry Parish, LA1.8250$30,000
March 315:37 AM CDTEF1Simpson, MS3.3340$300,000
March 316:01 AM CDTEF0Lowndes, MS0.760$5,000
March 316:07 AM CDTEF1Lowndes, MS5.8300$200,000
March 316:30 AM CDTEF2Marion, MS7.3300$2.3 million
March 316:54 AM CDTEF0Livingston Parish, LA3.225
March 3112:10 PM EDTEF0Carroll, GA5.3300
March 3112:32 PM EDTEF0Coweta, GA5.0250
March 3112:54 PM EDTEF0Fayette, GA0.2100
March 311:08 PM EDTEF1Henry, GA6.5100
March 3112:22 PM CDTEF0Dale, AL0.750$25,000
March 3112:31 PM CDTEF1Houston, AL3.12005$500,000
March 312:11 PM EDTEF0Peach, GA6.9100
March 312:13 PM EDTEF0Houston, GA3.6100

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.