F1 tornado, Hackneyville to Daviston, Alabama, November 24, 2004

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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

F1

Date

November 24, 2004

Touchdown

7:09 AM CST (13:09 UTC)

Path length

13.7 miles (22.0 km)

Path width

300 yards (274 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$260,000

Counties

Clay and Tallapoosa counties

Touchdown point

33.120, -85.920

Lift-off point

33.200, -85.780

Record number

237

The tornado first touched down near Little Hillabee Creek and County Road 5 in far northern Tallapoosa County. The tornado snapped and uprooted numerous trees along its path until it reached the Bluff Springs Community in southern Clay County. At least 10 permanent residences suffered varying degrees of damage in Bluff Springs. Numerous out-buildings, garages and sheds were totally destroyed. Several vehicles sustained damage mainly from falling trees and flying debris. One man suffered minor injuries while inside a garage that was destroyed near Bluff Springs. The heaviest damage occurred in the vicinity of Gortney Road and CR 35. The tornado continued northeast knocking trees down along the way. The tornado dissipated near SR 49 just north of the Mellow Valley Community. The tornado damage path was 13.7 miles long and 300 yards wide at its widest point.Begin: 33 06.13/85 56.20 End: 33 13.61/85 45.13

A brief tornado touched down between Daviston and the Frog Eye Community. Several large trees were snapped off or blown over just north of Drake Road. The brief tornado moved northeast across Hodnett Mill Creek and ended before crossing into Chambers County. The tornado only affected rural areas and no structures were damaged. The tornado path was 0.8 miles long and 30 yards wide at its widest point. Begin: 33 02.58/85 36.73 End: 33 02.89/85 35.70

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

4 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 13:05 UTC, 4 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 13:30 UTC.

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, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 13:02 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 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.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2004 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

49 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.