Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2001

F0 tornado, Myrtlewood, Alabama, November 24, 2001

This F0 tornado ran 0.6 miles across Marengo County on November 24, 2001, touching down at 12:56 PM CST and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $4,000 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.

  1. F040 to 72 mphthis tornado

    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 mph

    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.

The record

Rating
F0
Date
November 24, 2001
Touchdown
12:56 PM CST (18:56 UTC)
Path length
0.6 miles (1.0 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$4,000
County
Marengo County
Touchdown point
32.220, -87.900
Lift-off point
32.230, -87.900
Record number
548

What the Weather Service recorded

Several people witnessed a small tornado touchdown in the Half Acre Community. The tornado occurred in a rural, wooded area. Several trees and power lines were blown down along the short, narrow path. Beg: 32 11.426/87 55.750 End: 32 11.789/87 55.323

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

The warnings

22 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 18:34 UTC, 22 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 19:15 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
17:12 UTC18:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMX
17:44 UTC18:30 UTCTornado WarningBMX
18:34 UTC19:15 UTCTornado WarningBMX
19:27 UTC20:15 UTCTornado WarningBMX

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

6.9 hours before the tornado, 149 km from the path. November 24, 2001.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2001-11-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 185 joules per kilogram, CIN -24, lifted condensation level 449 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2001-11-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 329 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 46 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 00:00Z

5.1 hours after it, 149 km from the path. November 25, 2001.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2001-11-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1498 joules per kilogram, CIN -5, lifted condensation level 511 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2001-11-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 341 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 48 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 2412:40 AM CSTF3Morehouse Parish, LA to AR30.0880311$2.3 million
November 2412:43 AM CSTF1Grant Parish, LA11.530
November 241:14 AM CSTF0Winn Parish, LA2.930
November 241:25 AM CSTF2White, AR5.58803
November 241:31 AM CSTF1Chicot, AR1.0100$500,000
November 241:35 AM CSTF1Caldwell Parish, LA5.030
November 241:55 AM CSTF4Winterville–Mount Bayou tornado, MS30.388048$4.1 million
November 242:05 AM CSTF2Avoyelles Parish, LA1.0103$50,000
November 242:42 AM CSTF1Coahoma, MS10.0400$130,000
November 243:10 AM CSTF2Quitman, MS43.5300333$7.5 million
November 244:10 AM CSTF2DeSoto, MS6.03009$1.9 million
November 244:15 AM CSTF3Humphreys, MS5.04005$4.0 million
November 244:51 AM CSTF0Hinds, MS0.250$1,000
November 245:18 AM CSTF0Hinds, MS0.350
November 245:25 AM CSTF4Madison–Canton tornado, MS11.5880221$12 million
November 246:10 AM CSTF0Madison Parish, LA0.550$1,000
November 246:25 AM CSTF1Leake, MS0.250$1,000
November 246:47 AM CSTF2Calloway, KY11.53004$750,000
November 249:30 AM CSTF0Oktibbeha, MS0.150
November 2410:10 AM CSTF1Noxubee, MS8.050$400,000
November 2410:55 AM CSTF3Pickens, AL38.930021$1.4 million
November 2411:02 AM CSTF0Hale, AL0.250$10,000
November 2411:15 AM CSTF0Clarke, MS0.550$30,000
November 2411:21 AM CSTF2Winston, AL1.97013$890,000
November 2411:39 AM CSTF1Tuscaloosa, AL2.075$30,000
November 2411:45 AM CSTF0Choctaw, AL0.120$10,000
November 2412:02 PM CSTF0Clarke, MS0.350$3,000
November 2412:10 PM CSTF2Morgan, AL4.93002$500,000
November 2412:34 PM CSTF0Hale, AL2.975$30,000
November 2412:35 PM CSTF0Choctaw, AL0.120$10,000
November 2412:37 PM CSTF0Tuscaloosa, AL0.230$1,000
November 2412:59 PM CSTF1Cullman, AL2.1200$70,000
November 241:00 PM CSTF0Choctaw, AL0.120$30,000
November 241:02 PM CSTF0Cullman, AL0.250$1,000
November 241:19 PM CSTF4Highland Lake–Oneonta tornado, AL10.150022$1.1 million
November 241:31 PM CSTF2St. Clair, AL13.41251$500,000
November 241:41 PM CSTF2Marshall, AL2.03007$400,000
November 241:50 PM CSTF2Madison, AL2.6300$500,000
November 242:25 PM CSTF2DeKalb, AL7.1100$100,000
November 243:01 PM CSTF2Cherokee, AL8.220024$300,000
November 244:06 PM ESTF1Dade, GA1.5528$70,000
November 243:10 PM CSTF2St. Clair, AL4.51002$500,000
November 243:42 PM CSTF2Talladega, AL3.140015$800,000
November 243:54 PM CSTF1Autauga, AL9.850$40,000
November 243:59 PM CSTF2Talladega, AL9.1200$230,000
November 244:03 PM CSTF1Calhoun, AL7.72505$250,000
November 244:42 PM CSTF0Conecuh, AL0.120$10,000
November 245:08 PM CSTF0Butler, AL3.0100$30,000
November 245:10 PM CSTF1Clay, AL6.1300$100,000
November 245:42 PM CSTF1Butler, AL6.01503$100,000
November 246:30 PM CSTF0Butler, AL0.120$10,000
November 248:08 PM ESTF1Shelby, IN16.0100$1.0 million
November 247:10 PM CSTF0Escambia, AL0.120$30,000
November 247:28 PM CSTF0Covington, AL0.120$10,000
November 248:30 PM CSTF0Covington, AL0.260$10,000
November 248:42 PM CSTF0Pike, AL0.250$2,000
November 249:27 PM CSTF1Pike, AL11.875$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.