On May 25th, the meteorological department in Guangzhou confirmed that on the afternoon of the 23rd around 5 p.m., the town of Aotou in Conghua District, Guangzhou, was hit by a tornado, causing trees to be blown down and a two-story temporary building at a construction site to be overturned.
According to a video posted by a netizen on May 24th, around 4:40 p.m. on the 23rd, what appeared to be a tornado struck near Huaxia Vocational College in Aotou Town, Conghua District, Guangzhou, Guangdong. The video shows dark clouds in the sky, debris swirling in the air, and a temporary building on a construction site being blown down.
The official Weibo account “Guangzhou Weather” of the Guangzhou Emergency Warning Information Release Center stated on the morning of the 24th that the Guangzhou Meteorological Observatory, Conghua District Meteorological Bureau, and the Foshan Tornado Research Center went to investigate on site near Huaxia Vocational College in Aotou Town. They found that some trees had fallen and the second floor of a temporary building at the construction site had been blown down.
After analysis, it was confirmed that the tornado occurred around 5 p.m. on the 23rd, moving from west to east in a narrow band with a total length of about 1.5 kilometers and lasting approximately 3 minutes. The affected area was mainly concentrated between the Aotou Town Second Central School and the under-construction site of Huaxia Vocational College.
Based on the extent of damage to the facilities on-site, the tornado was determined to be of moderate intensity. Fortunately, the tornado had a shorter path and avoided densely populated areas, hence “there are no reports of serious casualties” at the moment.