F2 tornado, Pinckard to Abbeville, Alabama, December 16, 2000

1. F040 to 72 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. F173 to 112 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. F2113 to 157 mphthis tornado

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. F3158 to 206 mph

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. F4207 to 260 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. F5261 to 318 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

F2

Date

December 16, 2000

Touchdown

11:00 AM CST (17:00 UTC)

Path length

29.0 miles (46.7 km)

Path width

170 yards (155 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$5.0 million

Counties

Dale, Houston and Henry counties

Touchdown point

31.250, -85.630

Lift-off point

31.530, -85.280

Record number

614

The F0 tornado moved northeast from extreme western Houston County into southeast Dale County. It rapidly intensified to an F2 tornado as it continued its intermittent track into the eastern portion of the county. A Midland City church annex lost parts of its roof and walls. Several homes in the Doe Run Subdivision south of Pinckard were destroyed and numerous others were damaged. In Pinckard, numerous trees and power lines were down. Many homes and businesses were damaged, some seriously. The tornado tracked northeast into western Henry County. Reported by the Dale County EMA.

The F2 tornado continued its intermittent track northeast from eastern Dale County into western Henry County, but had weakened to an F1 tornado. Just north of Murphy Station along Highway 27 and a quarter mile west of U.S. Highway 431, the tornado completely destroyed the Murphy Feed & Seed warehouse, numerous peanut trailers and two sheds. Before the tornado dissipated, it severely damaged the West Point Stevens Textile plant. Numerous vehicles were damaged. Henry County was declared a federal disaster area. Reported by the Henry County EMA.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 17:53 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2000 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

23 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.