Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2025

EF0 tornado, Woodlawn Beach, Florida, March 4, 2025

This EF0 tornado ran 0.3 miles across Santa Rosa County on March 4, 2025, touching down at 11:06 PM CST and reaching 75 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 4, 2025
Touchdown
11:06 PM CST (05:06 UTC)
Lifted
11:07 PM CST (05:07 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.3 miles (0.5 km)
Path width
75 yards (69 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Santa Rosa County
Touchdown point
30.398, -86.974
Lift-off point
30.403, -86.974
Record number
2503042306-01

The damage survey

7 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS MOB, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 84 mph.

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

Severe thunderstorms produced a tornado in the Florida panhandle late in the day of March 4th.

The tornado touched down along Champagne Ave, causing minor|shingle damage to several homes. As it crossed a culdesac at|Champagne Ave, a metal awning was destroyed, and an RV was|overturned. The tornado continued to the north, strengthening as|it neared Village Parkway. An RV was lifted and tossed|approximately 50 yards to the west, and several more homes|sustained minor shingle damage. The tornado lifted near the|intersection of Village Parkway and Marseille Drive. Special|thanks to Santa Rosa County Public Safety for their assistance|with this survey.

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 tornado watch, issued at 23:41 UTC and running to 05:37 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
12:00 UTC12:00 UTCRip Currents StatementMOB
18:00 UTC06:00 UTCWind AdvisoryMOB
21:00 UTC10:54 UTCHigh Surf WarningMOB
23:41 UTC05:37 UTCTornado WatchMOB
03:44 UTC04:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOB
04:24 UTC05:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOB
05:09 UTC05:36 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOB
10:54 UTC09:00 UTCHigh Surf AdvisoryMOB
13:00 UTC00:00 UTCWind AdvisoryMOB

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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:57 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 radar

The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 102 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:08 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.

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
04:40 UTCTSTM WND GST 70Pensacola NasEscambia, FLRecorded at KNPA - Pensacola NAS.
04:54 UTCTSTM WND GST 611 Nne Pensacola InternaEscambia, FLReported by KPNS Pensacola International Airport.
05:06 UTCTORNADO6 W NavarreSanta Rosa, FLThe tornado touched down along Champagne Ave, causing minor shingle damage to several homes. As it crossed a culdesac at Champagne Ave, a metal awning was destroyed, and an RV was overturned. The tornado continued to the
05:07 UTCTSTM WND DMG7 W NavarreSanta Rosa, FLMino soffit and shingle damage to a home on Champagne Ave.
05:20 UTCTSTM WND GST 632 Sse NavarreSanta Rosa, FLReported by Navarre Weatherstem station.

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 4, 2025

36 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 44:28 AM CSTEF1Carter, OK0.51203$500,000
March 44:30 AM CSTEF1Wise, TX3.2250$750,000
March 44:43 AM CSTEF0Carter, OK1.240$100,000
March 45:03 AM CSTEF0Pontotoc, OK8.8100$200,000
March 45:11 AM CSTEF1Pontotoc, OK3.72001$10 million
March 45:16 AM CSTEF1Pontotoc, OK1.040$300,000
March 45:24 AM CSTEF1Dallas, TX0.485$1.0 million
March 45:25 AM CSTEF1Pontotoc, OK4.8150$75,000
March 45:37 AM CSTEF1Johnston, OK1.6100$200,000
March 45:46 AM CSTEF1Hughes, OK2.950$75,000
March 46:06 AM CSTEF1Okmulgee, OK1.8375$80,000
March 46:10 AM CSTEF1Okmulgee, OK3.3350$40,000
March 46:22 AM CSTEF1Okmulgee, OK2.7400$75,000
March 46:25 AM CSTEF0Okmulgee, OK3.1250$10,000
March 46:33 AM CSTEF1McIntosh, OK0.7150$20,000
March 46:51 AM CSTEF0McIntosh, OK1.6150$50,000
March 47:15 AM CSTEF1Franklin, TX18.48583$500,000
March 47:44 AM CSTEF1Morris, TX9.0735$25,000
March 47:47 AM CSTEF1Bowie, TX18.6850$60,000
March 47:51 AM CSTEF1Bowie, TX18.9580$500,000
March 48:46 AM CSTEF1Harrison, TX1.0100$25,000
March 49:00 AM CSTEF1Caddo Parish, LA3.9114$100,000
March 49:19 AM CSTEF1Caddo Parish, LA0.8225$10,000
March 49:49 AM CSTEF1Tyler, TX0.575$25,000
March 410:06 AM CSTEF1Claiborne Parish, LA1.8300$100,000
March 410:29 AM CSTEF1Sabine, TX5.6625$10,000
March 411:01 AM CSTEF1Vernon Parish, LA1.1100$20,000
March 411:27 AM CSTUnratedVernon Parish, LA2.210
March 411:50 AM CSTEF1Rapides Parish, LA6.8100$270,000
March 412:10 PM CSTEF1Caldwell Parish, LA0.4200$25,000
March 44:52 PM CSTEF1Ascension Parish, LA1.850$100,000
March 45:16 PM CSTEF0Saint James Parish, LA1.475$50,000
March 46:13 PM CSTEF1Plaquemines Parish, LA5.575$300,000
March 46:24 PM CSTEF2Wayne, MS4.01504
March 46:33 PM CSTEF1Plaquemines Parish, LA2.875$10,000
March 47:55 PM CSTEF1George, MS0.930

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.