March 25-26, 2021 Severe Weather and Tornadoes

March 25-26, 2021
Severe Weather and Tornadoes

The March 25-26, 2021 severe weather event in Georgia was part of a larger multi-day tornado outbreak across the Southeast, driven by a potent storm system with strong shear, instability, and a moist, unstable environment that favored supercell thunderstorms and tornadoes. The event spanned the afternoon/evening of Thursday, March 25 into the early morning of Friday, March 26, primarily affecting north and west-central Georgia.

A late-March severe weather outbreak was caused by a strong storm system that lifted northeast from the Mississippi Valley into the Tennessee Valley on March 25-26, 2021. The combination of strong shear and instability led to favorable conditions for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes from the afternoon of Thursday, March 25th into the early morning of Friday, March 26th.

The most significant event was a long-track tornado that intensified to EF-4 intensity as it moved into Newnan in Coweta County shortly after midnight on March 26th. This tornado was the first EF-4 tornado in Georgia since 2011 and was spawned by a supercell thunderstorm that had tracked across Alabama before reaching the Georgia border. In addition, 2 other EF-1 tornadoes touched down in Bartow County, and a strong downburst with winds over 100 mph impacted Polk County. Scattered strong wind and hail as well as flash flooding affected other portions of the area.

Key Highlights

Main Feature: A violent, long-track EF-4 tornado (peak winds estimated at 170 mph) was the most significant and destructive element in the state.
- Path: ~38.9 miles long across Heard, Coweta, and Fayette counties.
- Duration: ~53 minutes, from 11:37 PM EDT on March 25 to 12:30 AM EDT on March 26.
- Start: ~1 mile NNE of Texas in Heard County.
- Maximum width: ~1.05 miles (1,850 yards) during peak intensity in western Newnan.
Impacts in Newnan (Coweta County) — the hardest-hit area:
- Extensive destruction in western and central parts of the city, including homes completely leveled (some with all exterior/interior walls removed except slabs), roofs blown off, and major structural failure.
- Direct strike on Newnan High School (broken windows/doors, extensive roof/structure damage; the historic 1888 brick building held up remarkably well overall).
- Damage to the county Justice Center/courts/911 facility (roof/window damage, interior water/wind issues).
- Industrial buildings, neighborhoods (e.g., Arlington Ct, Fairview Dr, Timberland Trail), and power lines/trees heavily affected.
- The tornado weakened/reintensified at times before lifting in northern Peachtree City with mostly tree/power line damage.
Casualties: 1 fatality (direct from the EF-4 tornado), no reported injuries from that specific twister (though some families survived close calls by sheltering in interior rooms/bathtubs).
Other Activity in Georgia::
- Two EF-1 tornadoes in Bartow County.
- A significant downburst (straight-line winds greater than 100 mph) near Cedartown in Polk County.
- Scattered wind damage, hail, and tree/power outages across other north/central areas.

This was Georgia's first EF-4 tornado since 2011 and part of a broader outbreak (March 24-28) that produced 43 tornadoes across 11 states, with several strong/violent ones in Alabama and elsewhere.