On the morning of March 24, 1975, a cold front was pushing southeastward across Northwest Alabama. It was trailing southward from a weakening, occluded low of northwestern Iowa. Ahead of the cold front, a squall line was moving eastward across Northeast and Central Alabama. The line of storms had passed through Birmingham.
It had been a worrisome night, watching and waiting for severe weather, but it appeared that Alabama had dodged a bullet. Tornadoes had been destructive over Mississippi during the previous afternoon, including a couple of F2 twisters across the northern part of the Magnolia State. One, near Caledonia in Lowndes County had a twin funnel structure. Several homes and farm buildings were damaged or destroyed.
Alabama had escaped with no significant severe weather as the storms came through during the coolest part of the day. Forecasters breathed a sigh of relief. But, during the early morning hours, supercell storms suddenly intensified ahead of the squall line over western Georgia.
Around 7:30 a.m., a tornado touched down over the industrial western sections of Atlanta and moved northeast over the affluent northwestern sections of the city. Along its thirteen mile path, the F3 tornado damaged or destroyed hundreds of fine homes and mansions. Two apartment complexes were also in the path of the twister.
The tornado is called the “Governor’s Tornado†because it damaged the Governor’s mansion on West Paces Ferry Road.
Governor George Busbee was reportedly brushing his teeth when the tornado hit. It knocked down some of the columns on the beautiful mansion.
A total of three people died and 152 were injured along the tornado’s path. Damage totaled $56 million.
