EF1 tornado, Homestead Park to Pasco, Georgia, April 27, 2023

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

EF1

Date

April 27, 2023

Touchdown

6:20 PM EDT (22:20 UTC)

Lifted

6:27 PM EDT (22:27 UTC)

On the ground

7 minutes

Path length

2.3 miles (3.7 km)

Path width

75 yards (69 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$5,000

County

Thomas County

Touchdown point

30.901, -83.979

Lift-off point

30.921, -83.949

Record number

2304271620-01

14 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TAE, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 104 mph.

• Multiple snapped and uprooted pine trees. Left edge of path.
• Multiple hardwoods uprooted. A few small ones snapped.
• Multiple pines uprooted. A few snapped.
• Door to crawl space was pulled out.

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

A strong spring storm system moved through the area with ample instability and shear for severe weather. Numerous reports of severe weather were received across the tri-state area. Two tornadoes occurred across southwest Georgia, and seven tornadoes occurred across the eastern Florida panhandle and big bend. An EF2 tornado produced significant damage in the town of Hosford, FL.

A brief tornado touched down along U.S. Highway 84 near Greenwood Plantation. The tornado caused extensive tree damage consistent with EF-1 winds of approximately 100 mph. The tornado just missed several homes just to the southeast and remained over wooded areas before dissipating as it crossed the U.S. 84 Bypass. Thanks to Thomas County EMA for assistance with the damage survey.

The same parent circulation that produced the tornado near Greenwood Plantation produced a second tornado which appears to have first touched down in the Holly Springs neighborhood. Damage was minimal with minor impacts to trees. The tornado remained very weak as it moved northeastward before intensifying near Egg and Butter Road. Numerous trees were snapped and uprooted at this location consistent with an EF-1 tornado with winds of approximately 90 mph. Damage to a barn was caused by falling trees. The tornado dissipated as it crossed Fredonia Road. Thanks to Thomas County EMA for assistance with the damage survey.

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

2 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:18 UTC, 2 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:45 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 15:37 UTC and running to 00:02 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 20:10 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 radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:16 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 2023 tornado in GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are

8 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.