Alabama, 2002

Tornado in Alabama, March 29, 2002

March 29, 2002 · NWS BMX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$1.4 million
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 29, 8:32 PM CST, 2 hours 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 29, 8:32 PM CST, 2 hours 48 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL
832 PM CST FRI MAR 29 2002

SVR TSTM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR PARTS OF NORTH ALABAMA. LATEST
SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS THE COLD FRONT FROM SW TN INTO CENTRAL KY...
SLOWLY MOVING SOUTHEAST. SEVERE CONVECTION ONGOING ALONG THE FRONT
WITH SCATTERED ACTIVITY DEVELOPING IN NW AL ATTM. MANY HAIL REPORTS
HAVE COME IN FROM THIS ACTIVITY....THEREFORE GREATEST THREAT APPEARS
TO BE FROM LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...BUT ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE
STILL POSSIBLE. LINE SHOULD CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL MORE HOURS BUT SOME
DECREASE IN INTENSITY SHOULD OCCUR OVERNIGHT. WITH ISSUE UPDATE
SHORTLY...BUT CURRENT ZONE PACKAGE HAS SITUATION HANDLED QUITE GOOD.

MAIN UPDATE CHANGE WILL BE TO BUMP TEMPS UP A TAD IN SOME
LOCATIONS...MAINLY WEST AND NORTH. DEW POINTS IN THE 60S MOST
SPOTS...SOUTH WINDS TO CONTINUE OVERNIGHT...AND INCREASING CLOUDS.

75

.BHM...NONE.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 29, 9:21 PM CST, 1 hour 59 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
921 PM CST FRI MAR 29 2002

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0905 PM    NEWBURG                   AL   0.88 IN HAIL
03/29/02   FRANKLIN                       NICKEL SIZE HAIL WAS
                                          REPORTED IN EASTERN
                                          FRANKLIN COUNTY NEAR
                                          NEWBURG.

0905 PM    HATTON                    AL   0.88 IN HAIL
03/29/02   LAWRENCE                       NICKEL SIZE HAIL FELL
                                          ACROSS WESTERN LAWRENCE
                                          NEAR HATTON.

0909 PM    MOULTON                   AL   0.88 IN HAIL
03/29/02   LAWRENCE                       NICKEL SIZE HAIL WAS
                                          REPORTED IN MOULTON.
Local storm report, Mar 29, 11:17 PM CST, 3 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1117 PM CST FRI MAR 29 2002

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0930 PM    7NE MOULTON               AL   0.88 IN HAIL
03/29/02   LAWRENCE                       NICKEL SIZE HAIL WAS
                                          REPORTED NEAR CADDO.

935  PM    TRINITY                   AL   0.88 IN HAIL
03/29/02   MORGAN                         NICKEL SIZE HAIL WAS
                                          REPORTED NEAR TRINITY.

0935 PM    4E MOULTON                AL   1.00 IN HAIL
03/29/02   LAWRENCE                       QUARTER SIZE HAIL WAS
                                          REPORTED EAST OF MOULTON
                                          NEAR THE COUNTY LINE.

0935 PM    7NE MOULTON               AL   1.75 IN HAIL
03/29/02   LAWRENCE                       GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL WAS
                                          REPORTED NEAR CADDO.

1008 PM    4E MOULTON                AL   FUNNEL CLOUD
03/29/02   LAWRENCE                       POSSIBLE TORNADO REPORTED
                                          JUST EAST OF MOULTON BY
                                          FIRE FIGHTER.

1020 PM    NEEL                      AL   2.00 IN HAIL
03/29/02   MORGAN                         TWO INCH DIAMETER SIZE
                                          HAIL WAS REPORTED NEAR
                                          THE CITY OF NEEL.

The radar

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 83 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:17 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Marshall

When
March 29, 11:20 PM CST to 11:36 PM CST
Where
Marshall County, 1 mi W of Red Hill
Rating
F1
Path length
8.7 mi
Path width
500 yd
Property damage
$1.4 million
Reported by
NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates
34.250, -86.450

A tornado first touched down at a cemetary just west of Red Hill. The F1 tornado travelled on a near due east path crossing CR 14 (Warrenton Road), a small ridge and SR 79. The tornado then climbed another ridge downing trees. Once on top of the ridge, the tornado paralleled Section Line Road (CR 166) downing trees and power lines and causing damage especially to out buildings, farm buildings, chicken houses, and other weak structures. Most substantial structures affected by the tornado had minimal damage as identified from visual inspection. The tornado ended at CR 152 (Oneonta Cut Off Road). Red Cross officials identified 3 structures with major damage and 18 with minor damage. There were no deaths or injuries reported with this tornado.Beg. 34 15.404/86 26.232 End: 34 15.291/86 16.998

What these are

Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Alabama in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Alabama, 2002Warnings in Alabama, March 2002

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5284407.