Past Events Tornado Warnings Our Office, Education Severe Storms. pic.twitter.com/6yArwiZEz4. US Dept of Commerce Summer Safety Campaign Damage at the beginning of the path ranged from EF1 to EF2. The Autauga tornado was a dreaded long-track tornado, with a path that was 82 miles long. 8:12 p.m. - An EF-4 tornado killed nine along a 44-mile path through Elmore, Tallapoosa and Chambers counties in the Lake Martin area. #alwx pic.twitter.com/cpMwa23Q8L. It continued on, with wind speeds reaching 210 mph, leaving a trail of devastation in Phil Campbell and Tanner. Meteorologists have rated the tornado that took seven lives in Autauga County on Jan. 12 an EF-3, with top winds estimated at 150 mph in spots along its path. Current Hazards Local Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Data National Weather Service meteorologists have surveyed the massive damage associated with this long track violent tornado, by ground and air. Probably the closest video to the storm your going to see.. East of Holt, the tornado path width widened from 0.5 mile to around 1 mile. Due to the combination of rich low-level moisture, strong shear, and focused large-scale ascent, there was relatively high confidence across the outlined area for strong tornadoes a tornado rated EF2 or higher on the Enhanced Fujita scale and widespread damaging winds. Now, the full fury of the outbreak was showing its muscle throughout the state. At least one death occurred here. Local Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Data, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Tornadoes, large to very large hail, and damaging winds to hurricane force also are possible over a broad area from the central Gulf Coast to the Ohio Valley and southern Appalachians, the Weather Services Storm Prediction Center warned. The tornado hit several homes along Sandy Ridge Road, where some of the deaths occurred. through north central Alabama to just northeast of Rome, Ga. (see 3:55 p.m. update) has generated several areas of rotation, prompting both tornado and flash flood warnings. 4:30 p.m.: New tornado warning south of Tuscaloosa and flash flood warnings through Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. In all, 299 Alabamians were killed in the outbreak. Satellite view of the long-track, tornadic supercell marching across Central Alabama. *Note: This story was updated to reflect the adjusted path of the Autauga tornado, which upon further analysis from the National Weather Service had a path length of 82.31 miles. 4:43 p.m. - A large supercell beginning in Mississippi dropped an EF-4 tornado packing winds of up to 190 m.p.h. At least 30 people were injured as the tornado carved a 10-mile (16-kilometer) path through Birmingham's northern suburbs, an area severely damaged by a much larger tornado a decade ago. (Patch.com) TUSCALOOSA, AL The National Weather Service has issued a . Among the dead are a family of three that lived in a wood-frame house in the small town of Ohatchee, along with a man and a woman who lived in mobile homes in Ohatchee and Wellington, respectively, county coroner Pat Brown told The Washington Post. The effects of the tornado arguably contributed to a decrease in affordable housing in what has been called "an uneven recovery" for Tuscaloosa.[25]. Devastating images are coming in from tornado damage in the Birmingham, AL area. The tornado reached EF4 strength as it approached U.S. 43.As it approached Hackleburg, moving parallel to U.S. 43, the tornado further . The tornado devastated the Cedar Crest neighborhood just north of 15th St, leveling many cinder block homes and causing at least 3 fatalities. In the Concord area, the tornado became violent once again with total destruction noted to a few small retail shops along County Road 46. Daily Rainfall Plots Heres a look at the updated track of Thursdays deadly tornado from the preliminary storm report from the National Weather Service in Birmingham: The tornado touched down at 12:40 p.m. Jan. 12 west of U.S. Highway 82 near Independence, causing damage to nearby farms. a tornado emergency is in effect until 6 p.m. a tornado warning is in effect until 4 p.m. [24] It caused approximately $2.4 billion of property damage, surpassing the 1999 Bridge CreekMoore tornado as the costliest single tornado in United States history at that time. The tornado then moved across the rest of Tallapoosa County causing EF-0 to EF-1 tree damage, including in the Sessions area. By the time the tornado reachedInterstate 65, it was evident that the storm was losing its energy. Past the coal yard, the tornado weakened to EF2 intensity, but still was able to destroy numerous pier and beam foundations homes and several industrial warehouses in McDonald Chapel. [5] At 1:45p.m. CDT (18:45 UTC), a Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS) tornado watch was issued for much of Alabama, northwest Georgia, southeast Mississippi, and southern middle Tennessee, with a >95% probability of at least two tornadoes and one or more strong tornadoes. Unfortunately, the day is not over yet. The tornado crossed Highway 63 South and neared the Wind Creek State Park area. Vehicles were tossed 200 yards. Tuscaloosa, AL F4 Tornado - February 23, 1975 Published by Jen Narramore on February 23, 2019 Stats Path length: 14.4 miles Width: 500 yards Fatalities: 1 Injuries: 49 Rating: F4 County: Tuscaloosa Tornado Path Click Map To Enlarge SPC coordinates: Start: 33.08 / -87.60 End: 33.25 / -87.45 Flood Products Description The tornado entered Tuscaloosa County just north of CR 60, west northwest of Ralph, and moved northeast causing tree damage and minor structural damage consistent with an EF2 rating and winds of 125 mph. The warning is in effect until 6 p.m. as the radar-confirmed tornado potentially tracks just north of the twister earlier in the afternoon that passed near Pell City and Ohatchee. Video of damage in Columbiana, Alabama. The tornado outbreak of April 27, 2011 cemented itself in the consciousness of every Alabamian who experienced it. The South is an area known for systematic vulnerability to severe weather and tornadoes. Office History Then they went outside to see home after home, destroyed. The tornado continued northeastward and weakened to an EF3 rating with winds of 130 mph. javascript is enabled. Social media photos show severe damage to homes in Eagle Point, which is near Meadowbrook, Ala. and about 10 miles southeast of Birmingham. A violent, high-end EF4 multiple-vortex tornado destroyed portions of Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, Alabama, as well as smaller communities and rural areas between the two cities, during the late afternoon and early evening of April 27, 2011. DEVELOPING: Cahaba Valley FD says multiple people pulled from their homes in Eagle Point subdivision and hospitalized. A tornado killed at least five people in Calhoun County, Ala., located between Birmingham and the Georgia border. Near Union at 4:50p.m. CDT, footage of the wedge tornado was captured by meteorologist John Oldshue during a storm chase for Birmingham ABC affiliate WBMA-LD/WCFT-TV/WJSU-TV (channels 58, 33, and 40 "ABC 33/40"), which broadcast Oldshue's live video of the tornado as he was tracking it outside of town. "Just as cities and towns from all over Alabama came together to support Tuscaloosa in the aftermath of the devastating April 27, 2011 tornado, the City of Tuscaloosa will support the City of Selma on their road to recovery," Mayor Walt Maddox said when the drive was . This was the first video evidence that the tornado had touched the ground; the video, along with NEXRAD evidence of a tornado debris signature, prompted the National Weather Service office in Birmingham to declare a tornado emergency. The tornado developed in the southwestern part of the county on the west side of the . Tornado Track Across Indiana and Kentucky, NASA Goddard Space List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks, Bridge Creek, Moore, & Oklahoma City (Metro), OK, "Day 4-8 Severe Weather Outlook Issued on Apr 23, 2011", "Day 4-8 Severe Weather Outlook Issued on Apr 24, 2011", "Apr 25, 2011 0730 UTC Day 3 Severe Thunderstorm Outlook", "Apr 27, 2011 1200 UTC Day 1 Convective Outlook", "Apr 27, 2011 1300 UTC Day 1 Convective Outlook", "Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS) Tornado Watch 235", "Storms, Tornadoes Leave Dozens Dead in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee", "Tuscaloosa-Birmingham EF-4 Tornado April 27, 2011", "Tuscaloosa-Birmingham Tornado - April 27, 2011", "Discriminating EF4 and EF5 Tornado Damage", "Damage Survey of the Tuscaloosa-Birmingham Tornado on April 27, 2011", "THE AFTERMATH: Staff accounts of the tornado", "Obama In Tuscaloosa: 'I've Never Seen Devastation Like This', "Six UA students included in list of tornado deaths", Interview with Storm Chaser of April 27 Tuscaloosa Tornado, Full video of this tornado taken by the above storm chaser from Tuscaloosa University Mall parking lot, Full episode of Discovery Channel's Storm Chasers about the Tuscaloosa Tornado, "Normalized Damage from Major Tornadoes in the United States: 18901999", 10.1175/1520-0434(2001)016<0168:NDFMTI>2.0.CO;2, List of tornadoes in the 2011 Super Outbreak, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2011_TuscaloosaBirmingham_tornado&oldid=1141443200, 2011 natural disasters in the United States, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, April 27, 2011, 6:14p.m. CDT (UTC05:00), 64 fatalities (+8 indirect), 1,500+ injuries, This page was last edited on 25 February 2023, at 02:47. Radar showed rotation associated with a confirmed large tornado about 20 miles east of Birmingham. Updated severe weather graphic with expands the higher threats areas farther southeast. Your browser or your browser's settings are not supported. However, the same parent storm is responsible for both areas of damage. Tornado: Where: highest chances west of I65 When: Monday and Tuesday Wind: What: Winds up to 40 mph Where: highest chances west of I65 It's hard to forget the gut-wrenching moments of 27 April 2011 when a massive EF4 tornado tore across the city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Almost all trees were blown down or snapped in the vicinity, as well as in the bottom of a narrow ravine nearly 100 feet below the house. However, with only manufactured homes in the path, there appear to be no damage indicators that will allow a higher rating.. By the time that tornado lifted just north of downtown Birmingham, it had covered 80.3 miles, reached up to about 1.5 miles wide, killed 64 people, injured over 1500, and caused . Info: Tornado reports do not correspond to the number of tornadoes that occurred. The tornado crossed the intersection of 15th Street and McFarland Boulevard, and numerous businesses and restaurants near the University Mall were completely flattened at low-end EF4 strength, and vehicles were either tossed around or destroyed. The tornado warning for Shelby and Talladega Counties has been cancelled. It touched down near Argo, and cleared at 72-mile path, rolling through Shoal Creek Valley in St. Clair County, packing winds of more than 180 mph and killing 22 people all the way to the Georgia line, obliterating homes along the way. Several suburbs in the area sustained catastrophic damage from the tornado as it tore through the west side of Birmingham, resulting in twenty fatalities. To those who perished in the storm or lost their lives as a result of tornado-related injuries, Tuscaloosa will never forget you. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. The tornado crossed through the Pine Flat community, damaging more homes, and a manufactured home was rolled and destroyed. SPC Stats. A tornado warning was in effect about 25 miles north of the border with Mississippi and Alabama. Severe weather was also occurring outside Alabama with severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings in effect in northwest Georgia, and a line of severe thunderstorms was sweeping east through western Tennessee. That chilly upper-level air will foster rising motion and widespread storms, while a change of wind speed and/or direction with height imparted by the jet stream will cause them to spin. One of the cities hit hardest was Tuscaloosa, Ala. A nearly mile wide tornado cut a path though the town, killing 53 people, and injuring 1200 more. The warning for the tornado south of Tuscaloosa, Ala. (see 4:30 p.m. update below) was upgraded to a tornado emergency, the most serious alert, due to a confirmed large and destructive tornado about 8 miles southwest of Mertz or 25 miles southeast of Tuscaloosa, shown in the image above. Non-Precipitation Warnings YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. One of the survivors, Kelly Dobbs, made it through the collapse of a Hackleburg pharmacy where she worked that day, summing up the fine line between devastation and survival. Vehicles were also moved, albeit only several feet. 6:14 a.m. - The damage reached Odenville in St. Clair County, where an EF-2 tornado damaged several homes, including multi-story brick structures. It also was similar to the path. Storms will increase in areal coverage and intensity into early evening while shifting northeastward. Numerous homes sustained damage in this area, anda 2-story apartment complexhad a large portion of its roof lifted and removed. 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