EF1 tornado, Reeves to Redbud, Georgia, May 25, 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 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

May 25, 2025

Touchdown

7:08 AM EDT (11:08 UTC)

Lifted

7:23 AM EDT (11:23 UTC)

On the ground

15 minutes

Path length

6.0 miles (9.7 km)

Path width

750 yards (686 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Gordon County

Touchdown point

34.459, -85.040

Lift-off point

34.417, -84.949

Record number

2505250508-01

33 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS FFC, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 97 mph.

• Carport pulled out of ground and flipped over. Tree fell on a car.

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

An MCS moved into northwest Georgia during the early evening hours of the 25th. The system produced scattered damaging winds and several brief tornados. The system weakened as it moved towards the ATL metro, however a few imbedded cells remained strong and produced further damaging winds as far south as Douglas county.

A tornado quickly set down between Roland Hayes Pkwy SW and|Reeves Station Road on either side of the Oostanaula River in|southwest Gordon County on Sunday evening (May 25th). A large|barn was destroyed with all walls and roof collapsing. The barn|had 4x4 posts cemented into the ground (18 inches deep) that|were pulled out of the ground. No trees or other damage|indicators around this barn, so max winds estimated around 95 mph|here. The tornado, which likely skipped up and down along its|entire 6-mile path, tracked southeast snapping a few trees along|Miller Ferry Road. Off of Webb Road SW, 4 chicken houses|sustained damage - one collapsed and two others had metal|siding/roof pieces pulled off. Additional trees were snapped at a|residence just south of the chicken farm. Based on the chicken|house damage, max winds again topped out around 95 mph in this|area. The tornado continued southeast with additional trees|snapped or uprooted (mainly EF0 damage) from Miller Ferry Road|to South Holcomb Road. No additional damage was seen east or|southeast of this area (just west of Hwy 41 and Old Dixie Hwy NW).|The rather large path width of damage (for an EF-1 tornado) could|have been due to multiple circulations/vortices that occurred|within the broader mesocyclone.

A very brief tornado associated with a broader line of severe|storms, occurred along Owens Gin Road NE, between J Slagler Road|and Hunts Gin Road in northern Gordon County. A free-standing|barn (no walls) was heavily damaged. The metal roof, which was|completely destroyed, was secured with hurricane straps to the|four large round wooden posts and thrown into a small forest of|trees downwind. Several larger trees were snapped or uprooted.|Across Owens Gin Road, a few additional trees were snapped along|with the majority of a metal roof pulled off a smaller (old)|barn. The tornado likely lifted around this point. Max winds were|estimated to be around 90 mph based on the barn damage.

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. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

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 05:50 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.

Calhoun (CZL), 5 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 114 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 11:07 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.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2025 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.