EF1 tornado, Villa Tasso, Florida, May 25, 2026

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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating, as surveyed

EF1, preliminary

Date

May 25, 2026

Touchdown

4:07 PM CDT (21:07 UTC)

Lifted

4:10 PM CDT (21:10 UTC)

On the ground

3 minutes

Path length

0.3 miles (0.5 km)

Path width

150 yards (137 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Walton County

Touchdown point

30.458, -86.387

Lift-off point

30.463, -86.387

Highest wind the damage implies

105 mph

Surveyed by

NWS MOB and NWS TAE

Survey last edited

May 27, 2026

Record number

None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.

A tornado moved ashore from the Choctawhatchee Bay into the small village of Villa Tasso. The tornado snapped and uprooted many hardwood trees, primarily on Yacht Club Drive, Robert Avenue, Magnolia Street and Virginia Court. Structural damage was largely due to fallen trees. However, one home on Hal Street suffered damage to about 40% of its roof. The tornado caused two trees to fall on a car at the intersection of Defuniak Street and CR 20 before lifting. Damage along most of the path was consistent with EF-1 damage with maximum winds estimated at 105 mph.

Written by NWS MOB and NWS TAE in the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit. A survey is revised as better evidence arrives.

17 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS MOB and NWS TAE, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 105 mph.

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

Scattered thunderstorms occurred ahead of a frontal boundary on May 23-25. However, on May 25, a mesoscale convective system developed west of the area and enhanced the low level wind field. This resulted in two tornadoes across the tri-state area. One tornado affected the Villa Tasso area in Walton county in Florida, and the other tornado affected Houston and Henry counties in Alabama. Both tornadoes were rated EF1.

A tornado moved ashore from the Choctawhatchee Bay into the small village of Villa Tasso. The tornado snapped and uprooted many hardwood trees, primarily on Yacht Club Drive, Robert Avenue, Magnolia Street and Virginia Court. Structural damage was largely due to fallen trees. However, one home on Hal Street suffered damage to about 40% of its roof. The tornado caused two trees to fall on a car at the intersection of Defuniak Street and CR 20 before lifting. Damage along most of the path was consistent with EF-1 damage with maximum winds estimated at 105 mph.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

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 19:39 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.

Destin - Fort Walton Beach (DTS), 11 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), 46 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:04 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 2026 tornado in FloridaEvery tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in Florida nowThe forecast where you are

1 more have been surveyed in the United States that day, so far.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. A survey can be revised, so the rating, the path and the casualties can all still change.

NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit, the record the survey teams file from the damage, and NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports. Neither is the official database for 2026, which SPC publishes in the spring of 2027.