EF2 tornado, Greenwood to Blacksville, Georgia, May 29, 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 29, 2025

Touchdown

3:31 PM EDT (19:31 UTC)

Lifted

3:36 PM EDT (19:36 UTC)

On the ground

5 minutes

Path length

1.8 miles (2.9 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

2

County

Henry County

Touchdown point

33.377, -84.150

Lift-off point

33.400, -84.136

Record number

2505291331-01

25 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS FFC, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 135 mph.

• Two trees uprooted onto a metal building
• Several trees snapped and uprooted
• Last visible location of any debris or damage from the tornado.
• Several trees downed in the wooded area North of the road. starting point

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

Widespread showers and thunderstorms due to a passing low pressure system were interrupted by a lone cell which rode along a boundary near the center of the low. This storm generated a strong but shallow rotation which became a brief strong (EF2) tornado. A couple of serious injuries were reported with this storm as a home was torn apart by the tornado soon after it formed. The tornado proceeded to cross I-75 and dissipated soon after.

An EF2 tornado with maximum winds of 135 mph quickly developed|during the afternoon hours of May 29, 2025 in Henry County. A storm which had a|history of very weak and broad rotation moved into the southern part of the county (Henry) and quickly spawned a tornado as it crossed Bethlehem Road|at approximately 3:31pm EDT. Just north of Bethlehem Road, a few|trees were downed to indicate where the tornado first touched|down. As the tornado tracked northeast, it quickly intensified to|EF1 strength, snapping and uprooting trees in a wooded region|behind several homes along Curry Ridge in the Laurel Creek|Subdivision. The tornado reached maximum intensity as it reached|Fresh Laurel Lane in the subdivision. Several homes sustained EF1|damage near the end of the road including significant loss of|siding and shingles, windows blown out, and in one instance,|partial collapse of the roof/wall structure. The last home along|the street is where the tornado reached maximum intensity of EF2.|The home was completely destroyed with the exception of a small|interior closet on the first floor where the clothes were still|hanging. Both occupants of the home were injured, one critically|when he was thrown 287 feet from the house into the nearby woods|according to Henry County EMA. The home demonstrated strength in|the construction with attached baseboards including the use of|clips, however the failure point was in the wall attachment where|the wall studs were only nailed into the baseplate. While a high|end EF2 tornado is determined for this point, there was not enough|evidence to support a higher rating of EF3. Debris was thrown|hundreds of yards to the east and the northeast from the home|including significant portions of the roof, clothing, and a metal|pipe used in A/C unit. To the northeast of the destroyed home, all|the trees that remained in a field being cleared were snapped and|uprooted consistent with high end EF1 and low end EF2 damage. The|tornado continued to the Northeast crossing Academic Parkway|through an apartment complex where EF0 to low end EF1 damage was|noted to the trees and buildings in the area. The tornado then|crossed Interstate 75 at approximately 3:34PM per numerous cell|phone video of the tornado. Trees were downed on the southbound|lane of I75. As the tornado approached Hwy 42, there were several|uprooted trees on the back of an industrial building and a few|trees snapped in the front. The tornado crossed Hwy 42 and began |to weaken with only minor tree damage noted in and around a large |industrial building. The tornado lifted as it crossed Distribution|Drive where small branches and leaf debris was noted. Both radar |and ground truth confirm that the tornado had significantly |weakened as it reached Distribution Drive. The tornado was very |short lived and only on the ground for 1.8 miles and 5 minutes, |but demonstrated how quickly a strong tornado can develop.

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 16:30 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.

Hampton (HMP), 17 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 39 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:30 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 GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are

5 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.