Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2001
F2 tornado, New Hope, Alabama, November 24, 2001
This F2 tornado ran 2.6 miles across Madison County on November 24, 2001, touching down at 1:50 PM CST and reaching 300 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $500,000 of property damage.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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.
The record
- Rating
- F2
- Date
- November 24, 2001
- Touchdown
- 1:50 PM CST (19:50 UTC)
- Path length
- 2.6 miles (4.2 km)
- Path width
- 300 yards (274 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $500,000
- County
- Madison County
- Touchdown point
- 34.500, -86.450
- Lift-off point
- 34.550, -86.430
- Record number
- 541
What the Weather Service recorded
The same storm that spawned the Union Grove Tornado moved northeast across the Tennessee River and produced another tornado in southeastern Madison County. This tornado, rated an F2 on the Fujita scale, touched down around 1:50 pm about 3.6 miles west-southwest of the city of New Hope near the base of Lemley Mountain where it downed trees and produced light damage to some homes. The tornado then strengthened as it moved northeast through a mobile home community where several mobile homes were thrown and demolished. After crossing US 431 and damaging several businesses, the tornado lifted about three-quarters of a mile northeast of the US 431/Old US 431 intersection around 1:54 pm. Despite damage to at least 21 homes, including eight that were completely demolished, there were no known injuries. In the mobile home community where the greatest damage occurred, residents stated they heard the Tornado Warning on televison and through NOAA Weather Radio and took cover in underground storm shelters. Beg: 34 31.445/86 26.951 End: 34 33.250/86 25.254
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
10 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:40 UTC, 10 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:15 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18:46 UTC | 19:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX |
| 19:40 UTC | 20:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | BMX |
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 forecast that day
The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 16:34 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 air that afternoon
The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 12:00Z
7.8 hours before the tornado, 153 km from the path. November 24, 2001.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 185 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -24 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 6 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 449 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 46 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 38 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 329 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 315 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.9
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.5 K/km
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 00:00Z
4.2 hours after it, 153 km from the path. November 25, 2001.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1498 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -5 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 471 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 511 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 48 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 38 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 341 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 429 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 3.1
- Supercell composite
- 12.7
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.3 K/km
The radar
The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 56 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:49 UTC.
Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track
Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2001 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of November 24, 2001
57 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 24 | 12:40 AM CST | F3 | Morehouse Parish, LA to AR | 30.0 | 880 | 3 | 11 | $2.3 million |
| November 24 | 12:43 AM CST | F1 | Grant Parish, LA | 11.5 | 30 | |||
| November 24 | 1:14 AM CST | F0 | Winn Parish, LA | 2.9 | 30 | |||
| November 24 | 1:25 AM CST | F2 | White, AR | 5.5 | 880 | 3 | ||
| November 24 | 1:31 AM CST | F1 | Chicot, AR | 1.0 | 100 | $500,000 | ||
| November 24 | 1:35 AM CST | F1 | Caldwell Parish, LA | 5.0 | 30 | |||
| November 24 | 1:55 AM CST | F4 | Winterville–Mount Bayou tornado, MS | 30.3 | 880 | 48 | $4.1 million | |
| November 24 | 2:05 AM CST | F2 | Avoyelles Parish, LA | 1.0 | 10 | 3 | $50,000 | |
| November 24 | 2:42 AM CST | F1 | Coahoma, MS | 10.0 | 400 | $130,000 | ||
| November 24 | 3:10 AM CST | F2 | Quitman, MS | 43.5 | 300 | 3 | 33 | $7.5 million |
| November 24 | 4:10 AM CST | F2 | DeSoto, MS | 6.0 | 300 | 9 | $1.9 million | |
| November 24 | 4:15 AM CST | F3 | Humphreys, MS | 5.0 | 400 | 5 | $4.0 million | |
| November 24 | 4:51 AM CST | F0 | Hinds, MS | 0.2 | 50 | $1,000 | ||
| November 24 | 5:18 AM CST | F0 | Hinds, MS | 0.3 | 50 | |||
| November 24 | 5:25 AM CST | F4 | Madison–Canton tornado, MS | 11.5 | 880 | 2 | 21 | $12 million |
| November 24 | 6:10 AM CST | F0 | Madison Parish, LA | 0.5 | 50 | $1,000 | ||
| November 24 | 6:25 AM CST | F1 | Leake, MS | 0.2 | 50 | $1,000 | ||
| November 24 | 6:47 AM CST | F2 | Calloway, KY | 11.5 | 300 | 4 | $750,000 | |
| November 24 | 9:30 AM CST | F0 | Oktibbeha, MS | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| November 24 | 10:10 AM CST | F1 | Noxubee, MS | 8.0 | 50 | $400,000 | ||
| November 24 | 10:55 AM CST | F3 | Pickens, AL | 38.9 | 300 | 2 | 1 | $1.4 million |
| November 24 | 11:02 AM CST | F0 | Hale, AL | 0.2 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| November 24 | 11:15 AM CST | F0 | Clarke, MS | 0.5 | 50 | $30,000 | ||
| November 24 | 11:21 AM CST | F2 | Winston, AL | 1.9 | 70 | 13 | $890,000 | |
| November 24 | 11:39 AM CST | F1 | Tuscaloosa, AL | 2.0 | 75 | $30,000 | ||
| November 24 | 11:45 AM CST | F0 | Choctaw, AL | 0.1 | 20 | $10,000 | ||
| November 24 | 12:02 PM CST | F0 | Clarke, MS | 0.3 | 50 | $3,000 | ||
| November 24 | 12:10 PM CST | F2 | Morgan, AL | 4.9 | 300 | 2 | $500,000 | |
| November 24 | 12:34 PM CST | F0 | Hale, AL | 2.9 | 75 | $30,000 | ||
| November 24 | 12:35 PM CST | F0 | Choctaw, AL | 0.1 | 20 | $10,000 | ||
| November 24 | 12:37 PM CST | F0 | Tuscaloosa, AL | 0.2 | 30 | $1,000 | ||
| November 24 | 12:56 PM CST | F0 | Marengo, AL | 0.6 | 50 | $4,000 | ||
| November 24 | 12:59 PM CST | F1 | Cullman, AL | 2.1 | 200 | $70,000 | ||
| November 24 | 1:00 PM CST | F0 | Choctaw, AL | 0.1 | 20 | $30,000 | ||
| November 24 | 1:02 PM CST | F0 | Cullman, AL | 0.2 | 50 | $1,000 | ||
| November 24 | 1:19 PM CST | F4 | Highland Lake–Oneonta tornado, AL | 10.1 | 500 | 22 | $1.1 million | |
| November 24 | 1:31 PM CST | F2 | St. Clair, AL | 13.4 | 125 | 1 | $500,000 | |
| November 24 | 1:41 PM CST | F2 | Marshall, AL | 2.0 | 300 | 7 | $400,000 | |
| November 24 | 2:25 PM CST | F2 | DeKalb, AL | 7.1 | 100 | $100,000 | ||
| November 24 | 3:01 PM CST | F2 | Cherokee, AL | 8.2 | 200 | 2 | 4 | $300,000 |
| November 24 | 4:06 PM EST | F1 | Dade, GA | 1.5 | 528 | $70,000 | ||
| November 24 | 3:10 PM CST | F2 | St. Clair, AL | 4.5 | 100 | 2 | $500,000 | |
| November 24 | 3:42 PM CST | F2 | Talladega, AL | 3.1 | 400 | 15 | $800,000 | |
| November 24 | 3:54 PM CST | F1 | Autauga, AL | 9.8 | 50 | $40,000 | ||
| November 24 | 3:59 PM CST | F2 | Talladega, AL | 9.1 | 200 | $230,000 | ||
| November 24 | 4:03 PM CST | F1 | Calhoun, AL | 7.7 | 250 | 5 | $250,000 | |
| November 24 | 4:42 PM CST | F0 | Conecuh, AL | 0.1 | 20 | $10,000 | ||
| November 24 | 5:08 PM CST | F0 | Butler, AL | 3.0 | 100 | $30,000 | ||
| November 24 | 5:10 PM CST | F1 | Clay, AL | 6.1 | 300 | $100,000 | ||
| November 24 | 5:42 PM CST | F1 | Butler, AL | 6.0 | 150 | 3 | $100,000 | |
| November 24 | 6:30 PM CST | F0 | Butler, AL | 0.1 | 20 | $10,000 | ||
| November 24 | 8:08 PM EST | F1 | Shelby, IN | 16.0 | 100 | $1.0 million | ||
| November 24 | 7:10 PM CST | F0 | Escambia, AL | 0.1 | 20 | $30,000 | ||
| November 24 | 7:28 PM CST | F0 | Covington, AL | 0.1 | 20 | $10,000 | ||
| November 24 | 8:30 PM CST | F0 | Covington, AL | 0.2 | 60 | $10,000 | ||
| November 24 | 8:42 PM CST | F0 | Pike, AL | 0.2 | 50 | $2,000 | ||
| November 24 | 9:27 PM CST | F1 | Pike, AL | 11.8 | 75 | $50,000 |
What this means
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.
Sources
NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.