Tornadoes in Alabama, November 29 to 30, 2016

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northern Pickens County just northeast of Ethelsville and determined that the damage was consistent with an EF-1 tornado, with maximum winds estimated near 95 mph.

The tornado touched down about 5 miles northeast of Ethelsville on County Road 35. A few trees were snapped off around this location but the initial damage was rather minor. The tornado continued northeast and crossed Antiach Church Road where it continued snapping off and uprooting trees. The tornado then approached County Road 34 where the tornado was at its maximum intensity. Numerous trees were snapped off and were uprooted on both sides of the tornado path. Several outbuildings were either damaged or destroyed. The tornado continued northeast where it crossed Shawtone Road, Woodard Road, and Miller Road. The tornado lifted just before it crossed County Road 27. There were sporadic trees blown down within one mile on the southern side path. This damage was due to strong inflow winds into the storm.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in southern Marion County near Twin and determined that the damage was consistent with an EF-0 tornado, with maximum winds estimated near 75 mph.

The tornado touched down about 3 miles north of Gu-Win, or just southwest of the Twin Community on County Road 250. The tornado damage was light and mainly consisted of tree and tree branch damage northeastward across County Road 3, Alabama Highway 253 and up to Interstate 22. The tornado proceeded northeastward and crossed County Road 95, County Road 36 and Vinston Road. More tree and tree branch damage was done on this part of the path. The tornado then passed Piney Grove Road, Alabama Highway 129 and lifted near County Road 170. More light tree damage occurred and a few outbuildings sustained damage in this area.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northwest Winston County near Forkville and determined that the damage was consistent with an EF-1 tornado, with maximum winds estimated near 105 mph.

The tornado touched down about 5 miles east northeast of Haleyville. At initial touch down along Chicken Foot Road, there were a few trees that were blown down and minor damage to a garage roof. The tornado continued northeastward where it snapped several power poles, one home suffered roof damage, and some garage doors were blown in. A metal pole and rafter barn was destroyed and the debris was scattered across a field. Toward the end of the path, several tree trunks were snapped off.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in eastern Winston County in the Ashridge Community and determined that the damage was consistent with an EF-2 tornado, with maximum winds estimated near 125 mph.

The tornado touched down along County Road 55 just north of Macedonia Road. This location was about 4 miles northwest of Double Springs or 2 miles south of Ashridge. At the beginning point, one home lost a portion of its roof covering. The tornado moved north northeast and almost paralleled County Road 55. A chicken house sustained significant damage and one home suffered roof damage on County Road 3182. The tornado increased its intensity and width as it entered the Bankhead National Forest near Ashridge. Several homes and outbuildings sustained damage and numerous trees were snapped or uprooted. The EF-2 damage occurred just off County Road 55 south of Ashridge. Two mobile homes and one outbuilding were totally destroyed. Numerous power poles and trees were blown down. The tornado continued north northeast and crossed Alabama Highway 195, County Road 2 and eventually lifted near Jim Brown Road. Several structures sustained damage and many trees were snapped off on this final section of the tornado path.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in Fayette County near Flynn and determined that the damage was consistent with an EF-0 tornado, with maximum winds estimated near 65 mph.

A brief, weak tornado touched down near the intersection of Flynn Road and Alabama Highway 102. This location is about 3 miles southwest of Fowlers Crossroads or 10 miles northeast of Fayette. Some trees were knocked down along the short path. Minor roof damage to an outbuilding occurred near the end of the path.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in eastern Winston County near Arley and determined that the damage was consistent with an EF-2 tornado, with maximum winds estimated near 130 mph.

This tornado touched down in a wooded area just northeast of Southside Drive and southwest of Winston County Road 3906. As it crossed Winston County Road 3906 and neared County Road 12, the circulation became substantially stronger and snapped numerous pine trees and caused minor structure damage to two homes along County Road 12. It continued to snap trees and cause minor structural damage as it crossed County Road 77/ Helicon Rd and Hosanna Highway. As it neared Hosanna Highway along the shores of Smith Lake, it intensified to EF-2 strength with wind speeds of 130 to 135 mph, rendering 4 homes as uninhabitable/destroyed. As the tornado crossed Smith Lake, it decreased intensity but widened to a maximum path width of 1000 yards. The tornado re-intensified and narrowed as it continued to move northeastward along County Road 77/Helicon Road, snapping and uprooting trees and damaging another 10 homes and several sheds and outbuildings, and snapping more than a quarter mile stretch of concrete power poles. The tornado continued to brush the south side of Helicon, destroying a Fire Department training building and passing over a community storm shelter. From there it continued northeastward across Winston County Road 40 and weakened as it crossed into Cullman County approximately 2 miles ENE of Helicon.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in extreme eastern Winston County just southeast of Addison and determined that the damage was consistent with an EF-1 tornado, with maximum winds estimated near 110 mph.

This tornado touched down about 6 miles north northeast of Arley along County Road 66. A few trees and large branches were snapped off near the initial touch down. The tornado continued northeast and paralleled County Road 66. The tornado continued producing tree damage and at County Road 39, it produced roof damage to a home and outbuilding. Farther down County Road 66, a mobile home was rolled over, a garage was significantly damaged, and a carport was damaged. The tornado continued northeast were it damaged several other structures and took down many trees. The tornado crossed US Highway 278 and entered Cullman County near County Road 45.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in Central Lamar County and determined that the damage was consistent with an EF-1 tornado, with maximum winds estimated near 105 mph.

The tornado touched down about 3 miles west southwest of the Lamar County Airport, near the intersection of Buck Jackson Road and Morris Road. There were several trees with large branches removed and a few trees that were snapped off. The tornado moved northeastward and crossed County Road 25 and Country Club Road. Several trees were snapped or uprooted and a few mobile homes suffered minor damage. The tornado then hit the Lamar County Airport at US Highway 17. Two hangers were destroyed, three planes were destroyed, several outbuildings were destroyed, one restaurant sustained roof damage, several mobile homes sustained minor damage and one home was destroyed. The tornado continued northeastward and produced more tree damage and minor mobile home damage on Pitts Road and Bluebird Road. Additional damage was located on Taylor Springs Road where several trees were uprooted and snapped off, a few homes sustained roof damage, and a few mobile homes were damaged. The tornado continued to snap off trees until it lifted near the intersection of County Road 49 and Garrison Road.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in southern Marion County and determined that the damage was consistent with an EF-1 tornado, with maximum winds estimated near 90 mph.

The same storm that produced the Lamar County Airport Tornado continued to move northeast, and eventually caused a tornado in Marion County. This tornado touched down about a mile south of the city of Guin on County Road 69. From there, the tornado quickly widened as it moved to the northeast. As the tornado crossed US Highway 43, it caused significant damage to the roof of a restaurant, and snapped and uprooted several large trees. The tornado then crossed County Roads 27 and 164, and Alabama Highway 253, causing damage to numerous trees and several outbuildings. As the tornado approached and crossed Interstate 22, the damage path narrowed and the damage was barely discernible. The damage path slowly widened again as passed to the northwest of the Brilliant Community, damaging many more trees. A wooden barn structure was significantly damaged on County Road 36 northwest of Brilliant. From there, the path continued northeast over mostly rural farmland, producing more tree damage on Alabama Highway 129, County Roads 46, 171, and 70, and Alabama Highway 233. From there, the tornado began to narrow once again, and it finally lifted near Crooked Creek Road, just south of US Highway 278.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in extreme northern Marengo near Faunsdale and determined that the damage was consistent with an EF-1 tornado, with maximum winds estimated near 90 mph.

The tornado touched down just south of Cedarcrest Lane in northeastern Marengo County near the communities of Siddonsville and Faunsdale. The tornado traveled northeast and crossed Cedarcrest Farms where it damaged several trees, barns and outbuildings. The tornado then crossed County Road 54 where it reached its maximum strength and width. Here, it uprooted and snapped several hardwood and softwood trees. The tornado continued northeast and crossed US Highway 80 where it entered Hale County.

This tornado is a continuation from Marengo County. National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in extreme northern Marengo and southeast Hale Counties and determined that the damage was consistent with an EF-1 tornado, with maximum winds estimated near 90 mph.

The tornado crossed into southern Hale County about 1 mile west of County Road 25. Several more trees sustained damage along County Road 12, County Road 10, and Alabama Highway 25 and Alabama Highway 61. The tornado lifted near Alabama Highway 61 just west of Perry County line.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in extreme northern Lee County and determined that the damage was consistent with an EF-1 tornado, with maximum winds estimated near 90 mph.

The first damage surveyed was along Lee Road 88 just southwest of US Highway 280 near the town of Waverly. The tornado then traveled northeast and crossed Lee Road 453 where it caused minor structure damage and several trees were either snapped or uprooted. The tornado then crossed US Highway 280 and entered southern Chambers County about one mile west of Highway 147.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in extreme northern Lee County and extreme southern Chambers County and determined that the damage was consistent with an EF-1 tornado, with maximum winds estimated near 90 mph.

This tornado entered southern Chambers County from Lee County about one mile west of Highway 147. The tornado traveled northeast and crossed County Road 21. Numerous hardwood and softwood trees were uprooted and snapped near County Road 21. The tornado lifted just north of County Road 21.