EF2 tornado, Gritney to Fadette, Florida, May 10, 2025

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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF2

Date

May 10, 2025

Touchdown

11:08 AM CDT (16:08 UTC)

Lifted

11:42 AM CDT (16:42 UTC)

On the ground

34 minutes

Path length

15.5 miles (24.9 km)

Path width

600 yards (549 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

1

Property damage

$105,000

Counties

Holmes and Geneva counties

Touchdown point

30.856, -85.784

Lift-off point

31.012, -85.597

Record number

2505101008-01

70 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TAE, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 115 mph.

• Concrete outbuilding/storage unit
• Wooden support posts snapped at base.
• Lofted from side yard across the road
• Three poles snapped at base

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

Steep mid level lapse rates along with sufficient instability and deep layer shear ahead of a cold front brought a couple of rounds of showers and thunderstorms to the region. Damaging wind gusts were reported across the Florida panhandle. In addition, a couple of tornadoes were reported in Walton county and Holmes county. Flash flooding also occurred in portions of Bay and Washington counties. Rainfall amounts of 3-9 inches were measured.

Steep mid level lapse rates along with sufficient instability and deep layer shear ahead of a cold front brought a couple of rounds of showers and thunderstorms to the region. Large hail and damaging wind gusts were reported. In addition, a tornado moved from Holmes county, FL briefly into Geneva county, AL before lifting.

This tornado began southwest of Bodie Lane and southeast of Tobe Retherford where it uprooted hardwood trees and snapped large limbs. This tornado increased in strength when it reached the intersection of Newberry Lane and Highway 177A as it caused numerous tree trunks to snap along with the tops of softwood trees; this was one of the areas indicative of damage consistent with low end EF-2 wind speeds. The tornado then moved parallel to Flowing Well Road while uprooting several hardwood trees, snapping large limbs, causing three electrical wooden power poles to snap, along with causing minor roof damage to a single-wide manufactured home. The tornado continued to move northeast across Old Ridge Road where several hardwood trees were uprooted and snapped. Once the tornado reached Highway 2 south of Esto, it caused several types of damage ranging from a tipped over Exxon Gas station covering, numerous snapped hardwood and softwood trees, an overturned SUV and trailer, and minor to moderate roof damage to a small business and a one-story home; this was another area indicative of damage consistent of low end EF-2 wind speeds. The Holmes County Sheriffs Office reported one minor injury in the vicinity of the intersection of Highways 2 and 79. As the tornado continued to track northeast to Noma, it continued to snap hardwood tree limbs, uproot trees and promote moderate roof damage of a single-wide manufactured home. The tornado then crossed northeast to the Florida and Alabama state line snapping hardwood limbs. Before it dissipated in Alabama just north of Highway 4, it snapped numerous softwood tree trunks and the tops of trees.

This is a continuation of the Holmes county tornado. The Geneva county portion of this tornado is rated EF1 while the Holmes county portion is EF2. This tornado began southwest of Bodie Lane and southeast of Tobe Retherford where it uprooted hardwood trees and snapped large limbs. This tornado increased in strength when it reached the intersection of Newberry Lane and Highway 177A as it caused numerous tree trunks to snap along with the tops of softwood trees; this was one of the areas indicative of damage consistent with low end EF-2 wind speeds. The tornado then moved parallel to Flowing Well Road while uprooting several hardwood trees, snapping large limbs, causing three electrical wooden power poles to snap, along with causing minor roof damage to a single-wide manufactured home. The tornado continued to move northeast across Old Ridge Road where several hardwood trees were uprooted and snapped. Once the tornado reached Highway 2 south of Esto, it caused several types of damage ranging from a tipped over Exxon Gas station covering, numerous snapped hardwood and softwood trees, an overturned SUV and trailer, and minor to moderate roof damage to a small business and a one-story home; this was another area indicative of damage consistent of low end EF-2 wind speeds. The Holmes County Sheriffs Office reported one minor injury in the vicinity of the intersection of Highways 2 and 79. As the tornado continued to track northeast to Noma, it continued to snap hardwood tree limbs, uproot trees and promote moderate roof damage of a single-wide manufactured home. The tornado then crossed northeast to the Florida and Alabama state line snapping hardwood limbs. Before it dissipated in Alabama just north of Highway 4, it snapped numerous softwood tree trunks and the tops of trees.

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

21 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 15:47 UTC, 21 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 16:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 15:22 UTC and running to 21:02 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 12:57 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.

Tri-County (BCR), 13 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 47 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 16:07 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 2025 tornado in FloridaEvery tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in Florida nowThe forecast where you are

4 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.