Tornadoes and Hail in Alabama, January 12, 2023

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in western Winston County and determined that it was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum winds near 125 mph. The tornado touched down east of Delmar near County Road 20 where timber damage was observed in addition to minor structural damage. The tornado tracked northeastward into a heavily wooded area near Tanyard Creek and then crossed County Road 28 where several trees were uprooted. The tornado continued northeast into heavily wooded areas near Clear Creek, then impacting a residence on County Road 432, where it uprooted and snapped trees, causing structural damage, and overturning an RV. The tornado continued to cause additional timber damage in a heavily wooded area before it impacted a farm near County Road 55 and 3182. Here the highest degree of damage occurred as two large chicken houses were completely destroyed in addition to three other small farm buildings. Nearby structural damage occurred to at least four residences. The tornado continued east-northeast toward Highway 195 where it dissipated before crossing County Road 6.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northern Sumter County and determined that it was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum winds near 120 mph. This tornado began near Sumter Road 24 uprooting trees. The tornado continued east-northeast along Sumter 24 where it destroyed a grain bin near Ramsey Lane along with snapping and uprooting a few more softwood trees. The tornado moved through the town of Emelle where it caused damage to several roofs in the community, along with uprooting and snapping numerous trees. The tornado crossed Highway 74 and took the roof off of a home and destroyed an outbuilding near the intersection of Highway 74 and Sunlight Church Road. The tornado crossed Highway 39 and destroyed a mobile home on Hodges Place Road. The tornado lifted just east of Sumter 21, uprooting and snapping a few more trees along the way.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in eastern Greene County and determined that it was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum winds near 100 mph. This tornado began in the city of Eutaw just west of West End Avenue and moved across West End Avenue where it destroyed a shed, caused roof damage, and snapped and uprooted trees. The tornado continued to move into the northern portions of Eutaw where it snapped and uprooted numerous trees along with minor roof damage to several homes. Trees also fell on at least two homes causing significant damage to the homes. A rooftop observation deck was taken off of one home and thrown across the street off Ashby Drive. The tornado continued east-northeast and uprooted several trees along Highway 11. The tornado traveled over mostly marshy river bottom land before crossing the Black Warrior River and into Hale County.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northwest Hale County and determined that it was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum winds near 90 mph. This tornado originated in Greene County and crossed a winding Black Warrior River and in and out of Hale County several times. The tornado produced some uprooted and snapped trees along the river banks.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in southeast Greene County and determined that it was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum winds near 90 mph. This tornado crossed a winding Black Warrior River several times before eventually moving into Hale County. Damage consisted of several uprooted and snapped trees along the river banks.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northern Hale County and determined that it was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum winds near 115 mph. This tornado originated in northeast Greene County and crossed into Hale County west of Akron along the Black Warrior River. The most significant damage was on the Hale County side of the river along Flemming Road and Oak Village Road. Many manufactured homes were destroyed on Flemming Road, mostly due to uprooted and snapped hardwood trees. One home on Oak Village Road sustained significant damage after garage failure occurred. This resulted in adjacent walls collapsing and most of the roof structure being blown north into the river. Additional timber and varying degrees of structural damage was observed to the end of Oak Village Road. The tornado continued northeast, but is believed to have weakened or skipped along its path. Only minor timber damage was found near the Stewart community and along Highway 69. However, more significant timber damage was found downstream on County Road 50, entering the Talladega National Forest. Hardwood trees were snapped and uprooted with a path width around 300 yards at this point as the tornado strengthened. The tornado continued northeast and crossed into the far southeast corner of Tuscaloosa County.

Quarter size hail reported along County Road 28.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in the far southeast portion of Tuscaloosa County and determined that it was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum winds near 130 mph. This tornado originated in Greene County, crossed through northern Hale County and entered Tuscaloosa County near the intersection of Hale, Bibb, and Tuscaloosa Counties. The tornado path widened to nearly 600 yards once it crossed into Tuscaloosa County and shortly reached its maximum intensity. |The tornado was rated at 130 mph at this point due to a large swath of trees snapped at their bases. The tornado continued northeast crossing Highway 82 near Hagler, causing additional timber damage and some minor structural damage to two homes. The tornado weakened after crossing Highway 82 and into Bibb County.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in western Bibb County and determined that it was consistent with an EF0 tornado, with maximum winds near 75 mph. This tornado originated in Greene County, crossed through northern Hale County,|southeast Tuscaloosa County, and into western Bibb County. The tornado dissipated shortly after entering Bibb County, and damage consisted of some large broken tree branches.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in southern Hale County and determined that it was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum winds near 115 mph. The tornado touched down in a remote area of Hale County, near Clements Bend on the Black Warrior River. The tornado tracked northeast and across County Road 35, where numerous trees were uprooted on a farm near the State Cattle Ranch. From there, it continued to snap and uproot numerous trees in a largely rural area, before causing considerable damage to the roof of a house along Highway 69. The tornado intensified to EF2 strength as it approached the southern part of the city of Greensboro. Along Highway 25, it snapped and uprooted numerous trees, rolled and destroyed a single-wide manufactured home, and caused lighter damage to several other structures. The remaining damage along the path was mostly to timber, including Highway 61 just southeast of Greensboro, and County Road 14 just east of the city. The tornado weakened as it crossed into Perry County near Griffin Cemetery Road.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northwest Perry County and determined that it was consistent with an EF0 tornado, with maximum winds near 75 mph. This tornado originated in Hale County and entered Perry County near Griffin Cemetery Road. The tornado dissipated shortly after entering Perry County and lifted just east of Morgan Springs Road. Damage mostly consisted of a few uprooted trees.

Several reports of golf ball size hail in the Chelsea area.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northern Perry County and determined that it was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum winds near 105 mph. The tornado touched down near the Cahaba River west of National Forest Road 401D and Barton Road based on a radar estimation of a TDS. The tornado tracked northeast and crossed Fire Tower Road, where it reached maximum EF1 intensity of 105 mph based on numerous snapped and uprooted pine trees. The tornado continued over forest land before crossing into Bibb County south of the Abercrombie Community.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in southern Bibb County and determined that it was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum winds near 105 mph. This tornado originated in Perry County and crossed into Bibb County south of the community of Abercrombie. The tornado continued northeast and crossed Hickory Hollow Road where several softwood trees were snapped and uprooted. The weakening tornado crossed Highway 82, where storm chaser video showed a weak circulation crossing the highway. Dissipation occurred about one mile east of Highway 82.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in central Dallas County and determined that it was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum winds near 130 mph. The tornado began just east of Orrville near the intersection of Highway 22 and Cahaba Road. As it tracked northeast, it intensified and the damage path was nearly parallel with Highway 22. The damage consisted of mainly uprooted trees with some trunks that were snapped. There were also several manufactured homes that sustained roof and some foundation damage. As the tornado continued along Highway 22, additional tree damage was observed as it neared the southwestern sections of Selma.|The tornado quickly intensified as it entered the city limits of Selma, nearly parallel to Highway 22 and West Dallas Avenue. The overall length and damage width in the densely populated neighborhoods had devastating impacts to the city. Many hardwood trees were uprooted and softwood trees were snapped, many onto homes. Most of the softwood trees were snapped about halfway up on the trunks. A daycare center on West Dallas Avenue and Cooper Drive sustained heavy roof and exterior wall damage which was consistent with the higher-end EF2 wind speeds. Some debris rowing was also noted in the downstream vicinity. Over seventy children and workers survived without injury by taking shelter in small interior rooms and bathrooms after receiving the warning, while portions of the roof collapsed over large open classrooms and the former sanctuary. The second area of higher-end EF2 damage was noted downstream at the Selma Country Club where several buildings had significant roof and exterior wall damage and there was a complete blow down of extremely large hardwood trees. Additional softwood trees were also snapped in and around adjacent streets. As the tornado continued northeast, it entered the northern sections of downtown Selma. Much of the damage continued to consist of downed trees, some on homes, but several homes near the center of the track had entire roofs removed. Another notable area of damage was where Broad Street crossed the railroad tracks. A strip mall had much of its roof removed, and some of the X-braces in a metal building system failed, which from a structural engineering perspective was one of the more impressive damage indicators. Several older homes collapsed near the intersection of Minter Street and Saint Phillip Street, but they were built on brick pilings with open air underneath them, which kept them in the EF2 range. As the tornado exited downtown, it crossed Highway 14, where structure damage was noted with exterior walls that collapsed.|The tornado caused some significant damage at the Dallas County Jail on Selfield Road, with significant loss of roof material. The tornado weakened as it approached the Brantley community, where a few trees were uprooted. The tornado lifted just east of River Road.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northern Autauga County and determined that it was consistent with an EF3 tornado, with maximum winds near 150 mph. This long-track tornado began west of Highway 82, where timber damage occurred to farms near the community of Independence. The tornado crossed Highway 82 and strengthened as a manufactured home was rolled along Autauga County Road 40. Over the next two miles, the tornado rapidly strengthened as it approached the Old Kingston community, where EF3 damage began along County Road 43. At this location, at least three manufactured homes were obliterated with their frames thrown up to 100 yards. A pickup truck was sent airborne and landed 120 yards to the northeast, where a shallow crater was formed by its impact. The tornado became deadly as it impacted several homes along Sandy Ridge Road. The frame of a manufactured home at the western end of the road was thrown 250 yards to the north-northeast and came to rest in a field. Just downstream, several manufactured homes in a cluster were shredded and thrown considerable distances. Trees were snapped off relatively close to the ground and partially debarked. In total, five fatalities occurred along Sandy Ridge Road at three separate residences. Similar damage continued to the northeast along County Road 140, where two fatalities occurred in two separate residences at the eastern end of the road. At least five manufactured homes were blown away with their frames thrown considerable distances. Several vehicles were picked up and thrown, and one pickup truck had its cab separated from the bed. From this area to County Road 42, the tornado caused massive tree damage and what appeared to be stands of debarked trees along Autauga Creek. In the three mile stretch of most severe damage from County Road 43 to County Road 42, wind speeds reached at least 150 mph. The tornado tracked across County Road 57 at a slightly weaker state, where numerous trees were snapped and uprooted with several homes sustaining significant roof damage with one site-built home also sustaining partial wall failure. The tornado crossed Interstate 65 where numerous trees were uprooted. In the Pine Level community, several homes sustained roof damage and a manufactured home was rolled off its foundation and onto County Road 68. Many trees were uprooted and snapped as the tornado crossed through the Pine Flat community. Additional homes sustained roof damage and other damage from fallen trees, and a manufactured home was rolled and destroyed. Residential structure damage intensified as the tornado neared the Autauga/Elmore county line where several site-built homes sustained a majority or entire roof removal along County Road 68 near Poplar Springs Road. The tornado crossed into Elmore County just north of Highway 68.

Quarter to half-dollar size hail reported in Sylacauga.

Several trees uprooted along Highway 82 south of Billingsley.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northwest Elmore County and determined that it was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum winds near 125 mph. This tornado originated in Autauga County and crossed into Elmore County just north of Tram Road. The tornado crossed near the intersection of Lightwood Road and Coosa River Road, where a manufactured home was rolled and destroyed and a home lost a major portion of its roof. The tornado then crossed the Coosa River, affecting Neely Road on the west bank and Kelly Road on the east bank, where several homes lost portions of their roofs. The tornado continued northeast and crossed Highway 29, where a residence lost a significant portion of its roof. As the tornado crossed Grays Ferry Road on the northeast side of Titus, a large number of pine trees were uprooted and snapped. Numerous trees were snapped and uprooted as the tornado tracked through northwest Elmore County and towards southern Coosa County.|The tornado crossed into Coosa County just west of Highway 231.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in southern Coosa County and determined that it was consistent with an EF3 tornado, with maximum winds near 140 mph. This long track tornado began in Autauga County and tracked across northwest Elmore County and into southern Coosa County just west of Highway 231. Structural damage across Coosa County continued to consist of roof uplift or removal and damage from wind-blown debris and fallen trees. A manufactured home was destroyed near Highway 231 along with numerous uprooted trees. Radar showed a debris ball in southern Coosa County which matched ground observations of a truly extensive area of snapped pine trees along McKissick Road, located between the communities of Speed and Equality. The volume of snapped trees was enough to assign an EF3 rating for this segment of the tornado path. Additional significant damage occurred along County Road 18 where vehicles were moved or flipped, numerous trees were snapped, and site-built homes were heavily damaged with one destroyed. This was another area assigned EF-3 intensity. The tornado continued northeastward toward the Coosa/Tallapoosa county line where additional, relatively less intense timber damage was noted. The tornado crossed into Tallapoosa County about one mile south of Newman Road.

Several trees uprooted and power lines downed along Highway 9 north of the town of Central.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in central Tallapoosa County and determined that it was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum winds near 130 mph. This long track tornado began in Autauga County and tracked across northwest Elmore County, southern Coosa County and into Tallapoosa about one mile south of Newman Road. Tornado damage continued into Tallapoosa County with a corridor of timber damaged observed along Cedar Creek and Elkahatchee Roads. Timber was snapped and uprooted and consistent with EF1 damage here. The tornado continued northeast crossing Highway 63 and approaching the Wind Creek State Park area. The tornado then moved toward Coven Abbett Highway and then Elbert Road. Several homes sustained damage here, some significant with roofs blown off, boat houses destroyed, and adjacent significant timber damage as dozens of large hardwood trees were snapped and uprooted. Areas impacted near here were Elbert Drive, Loblolly Lane, and Elbert Road. The tornado then crossed the northern section of Lake Martin before impacting additional lakefront homes. Numerous homes were damaged on River Run Road and the adjacent side streets. Some homes sustained significant damage with entire roofs blown away and exterior walls collapsed or removed. At least two homes were shifted from their foundation. The high-end EF-2 damage here could be partly due to the interaction of the tornado with the lake surface, as well as the exposed nature of these homes since most structures inland seemed to be sheltered from adjacent heavily wooded areas. The tornado also damaged homes along Lake Ridge Drive. The tornado continued northeast causing pockets of EF1 timber damage as it crossed Highway 280. The tornado then moved across the rest of Tallapoosa County causing mainly varying degrees of timber damage in the EF0 to EF1 range, including the Sessions area. The weakening tornado then crossed into Chambers County just north of Highway 118.

Quarter size hail reported in Alexander City.

Quarter size hail reported along Highway 63 south of Alexander City.

Several trees uprooted and power lines downed in Dadeville.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in western Chambers County and determined that it was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum winds near 100 mph. This long track tornado began in Autauga County and tracked across northwest Elmore County, southern Coosa County, Tallapoosa County, and into Chambers County just north of Highway 118. The tornado continued northeast into Chambers County causing additional swaths of mainly timber damage in the EF0 to EF1 range. The tornado continued along County Road 114 for several miles before lifting just east of Highway 77.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in eastern Chambers County and determined that it was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum winds near 130 mph. The tornado touched down on County Road 114, about six-tenths of a mile west of Highway 431. The tornado tracked northeast and intensified once it passed through the Five Points community, snapping and uprooting many trees along County Road 267 and causing roof damage to a barn. The swath of timber damage became almost a mile wide along County Roads 281 and 282 and at least one residence suffered roof damage. The tornado continued to intensify as it crossed County Road 268 where large swaths of pine trees were snapped. A manufactured home was completely destroyed and blown downstream near County Road 278. Most of the structural damage happened along County Road 284. A couple residences suffered significant shingle damage, one had siding damage, and a manufactured home had its porch ripped off, impacting its walls. Another manufactured building was blown off its footings. Another significant swath of snapped pines was observed on County Road 283, some snapped off only a couple feet off the ground. The tornado then crossed into Georgia about eight-tenths of a mile southeast of the intersection of County Road 439 and County Road 283.

Quarter size hail reported near the intersection of County Road 237 and County Road 258.

Several trees uprooted and power lines downed in Tallassee.

Several uprooted trees and downed power lines in Opelika.

Numerous large trees uprooted along Highway 231 south of Brundidge.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in far southern Barbour County and determined that it was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum winds near 105 mph. The tornado touched down just east of the intersection of Sutton Dairy Road and Rodeo Road, and tracked northeast uprooting and snapping several softwood trees. The tornado moved into a heavily wooded area, snapping numerous pine trees along County Road 13 and Dewey Ivey Road. The tornado crossed County Road 15 where a home sustained damage due to a fallen tree. The tornado continued northeast towards Teals Crossroads where additional timber damage occurred near Roberts Road along with some minor structural damage. The tornado continued east-northeast crossing County Road 33 and Turner Road before dissipating near Highway 10.