EF1 tornado, Sardis to Woodland, Georgia, May 3, 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 3, 2025

Touchdown

9:14 PM EDT (01:14 UTC)

Lifted

9:24 PM EDT (01:24 UTC)

On the ground

10 minutes

Path length

5.8 miles (9.4 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Talbot County

Touchdown point

32.777, -84.653

Lift-off point

32.785, -84.555

Record number

2505031914-01

21 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 95 mph.

• Damage to trees and a camper. appears to be on the northern edge of the circulation.
• Roof damage to a single family residence.
• Multiple large trees snapped and damage to some outbuildings. The damage occurred in a dip and the strongest part of the circulation may have been elevated.
• Large trees uprooted and power line damage.

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

A QLCS moved through North and Central Georgia in the afternoon and evening hours of the 3rd. The line initially posed a robust wind threat with measured wind gusts of near 70 mph. As the line moved across central Georgia cells in the warm sector merged with the line initiating numerous quick spin-up tornadoes and requiring at least 10 tornado warnings. Many of the rotational signatures were shallow and only visible from the TATL radar.

An EF1 tornado with maximum winds of 95 mph touched down in|northwest Talbot County on May 3 2025 at approximately|914 PM EDT. The tornado spun up within a super cell thunderstorm|as it was transitioning into a bowing line segment. Surrounding|weather stations and eyewitness reports suggest that the storm|may have ingested an outflow boundary from storms to the north|while the tornado was forming. The initial touch down occurred in|a wooded area east of Mountain Rd and between Hwy 116 and Rush|Creek. Shortly after touchdown the tornado moved into a more open|area where it downed multiple large oak trees and caused damage to|a window and chimney on a private residence. Tree and property|damage was sufficient in this area to warrant a EF1 rating with|estimated winds near 90 mph. The tornado then continued east and|appears to have weakened down to an EF0 as it passed through a|largely wooded area along the south side of Judge David Turner|Reservoir. Radar data indicates that the circulation likely|continued as the tornado moved east of the reservoir towards the|town of Woodland GA. Minor tree damage was found along Hawkins|Rd, indicating that the circulation was likely still in contact|with the ground as it approached the city at approximately|922 PM EDT. The tornado then tracked eastward through Woodland|intensifying back to an EF1 and causing significant damage to|trees and homes between 5th St and 6th St Numerous snapped and|topped oaks and pines were noted in this area along with damage|to approximately 10 residences. The most significant EF1 damage|was noted along 7th Ave, where porch roofs on several homes were|removed. This also appears to be where the tornado reached its|maximum intensity with winds near 95 mph. Thankfully no|significant injuries were reported in the city. Upon exiting|Woodland toward the northeast, the tornado weakened rapidly then|lifted somewhere in a wooded area just east of the Seaboard Coast|Railroad Line at around 924 PM EDT.

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.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 22:38 UTC and running to 02:22 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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:00 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 Atlanta radar (KFFC), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:14 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

7 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.