Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2005

F0 tornado, Graysville, Alabama, November 28, 2005

This F0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Jefferson County on November 28, 2005, touching down at 2:10 PM CST and reaching 30 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $20,000 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 28, 2005
Touchdown
2:10 PM CST (20:10 UTC)
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
30 yards (27 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$20,000
County
Jefferson County
Touchdown point
33.770, -86.970
Lift-off point
33.770, -86.970
Record number
523

What the Weather Service recorded

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed the damage that affected the Bagley community. It has been determined that the damage was the result of a tornado. The tornado has been rated an F0 on the Fujita Damage Intensity Scale. The tornado briefly touched down on County 8 or Greathouse Road in the Bagley community. This location is northwest of County Road 140 and northeast of US 78. The tornado damage path was approximately 0.1 miles long and 30 yards wide at its widest point. The tornado was on the ground at approximately 210 PM CST. At the brief touch down point, a few trees were blown down. One home received roof damage and the front porch was destroyed. Debris was scattered 200 to 300 yards. One building sustained minor damage. A large fifth wheel trailer weighing about 3,000 pounds was moved over 20 feet. Begin/End: 33.4554/87.0004

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

The warnings

18 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:52 UTC, 18 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 15:57 UTC and running to 00:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
06:00 UTC10:05 UTCLake Wind AdvisoryBMX
10:05 UTC00:00 UTCWind AdvisoryBMX
15:57 UTC00:00 UTCTornado WatchBMX
19:52 UTC20:30 UTCTornado WarningBMX
20:32 UTC21:15 UTCTornado WarningBMX
21:14 UTC21:30 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, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 19:55 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

8.2 hours before the tornado, 68 km from the path. November 28, 2005.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2005-11-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 151 joules per kilogram, CIN -27, lifted condensation level 522 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2005-11-28The 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 310 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 61 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
151 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-27 J/kg
Surface CAPE
10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
522 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
310 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
352 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.5
0-3 km lapse rate
4.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 00:00Z

3.8 hours after it, 68 km from the path. November 29, 2005.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2005-11-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -19337, lifted condensation level 659 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2005-11-29The 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 83 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 41 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-19337 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
659 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
83 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
242 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.9
0-3 km lapse rate
4.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Birmingham Municipal (BHM), 31 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
18:35 UTC71.664.4150° 16 kt211006.1
18:53 UTC7164170° 13 kt271005.4
19:19 UTC73.464.4170° 16 kt221005.1
19:53 UTC7464160° 11 kt221004.7
20:45 UTC71.664.4150° 20 kt281004.4TS
20:53 UTC7264160° 14 kt281003.7TS
21:42 UTC69.864.4180° 12 kt191003.7-TSRA
21:53 UTC6965260° 11 kt201005.1+TSRA BR
21:57 UTC6864.4230° 7 kt201005.4+TSRA BR
22:09 UTC64.462.6270° 14 kt171006.8-TSRA BR

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 69 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:10 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.

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
19:54 UTCTSTM WND DMGWest PointCullman, ALTREES DOWN.
19:54 UTCTSTM WND GST 70West PointCullman, AL
20:08 UTCTORNADO 011 N BirminghamJefferson, ALA HOUSE ON GREAT HOUSE ROAD IN THE CORNER COMMUNITY SUSTAINED ROOF DAMAGE AND THE FRONT PORCH WAS TORN OFF. THIS TORNADO MADE BRIEF CONTACT WITH THE GROUND.
20:08 UTCTORNADO11 N BirminghamJefferson, AL4818 GREAT HOUSE RD. ROOF DAMAGE.
20:09 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 E CullmanCullman, ALPOWER LINES DOWN IN BERLIN.
20:41 UTCDOWNBURSTHueytownJefferson, ALTREES AND POWERS LINES DOWN, MASTERS RD.
20:41 UTCTORNADO 02 Nw HueytownJefferson, ALSEVERAL TREES AND POWER LINES WERE DOWN ON MASTERS AND SMITH ROAD IN CONCORD. ROOF DAMAGE TO A HOUSE AND AN OVERTURNED SHED WAS FOUND. THIS DAMAGE WAS SURVEYED BY NWS PERSONNEL.
20:41 UTCTORNADO 02 Nw HueytownJefferson, ALSEVERAL TREES AND POWER LINES WERE DOWN ON MASTERS AND SMITH ROAD IN CONCORD. ROOF DAMAGE TO FIVE HOUSES AND AN OVERTURNED SHED WAS FOUND. THIS DAMAGE WAS SURVEYED BY NWS PERSONNEL.
20:41 UTCTORNADOHueytownJefferson, ALTREES AND POWERS LINES DOWN, MASTERS RD. CORRECTED
20:45 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD3 Nw HueytownJefferson, ALWALL CLOUD AND FUNNEL CLOUD
21:15 UTCHAIL 0.25GardendaleJefferson, AL
21:27 UTCHAIL 0.25Holly PondCullman, AL
22:43 UTCTSTM WND DMGN OneontaBlount, ALROOF DAMAGE - 5940 CNTY RD 36 IN SUSAN MOORE COMMUNITY...LIKELY DELAYED RPT...COR. FOR LOCATION
22:43 UTCTORNADON OneontaBlount, ALROOF DAMAGE - 5940 CNTY RD 36 IN SUGAR MOORE COMMUNITY...LIKELY DELAYED RPT.
22:43 UTCTORNADON OneontaBlount, ALROOF DAMAGE - 5940 CNTY RD 36 IN SUSAN MOORE COMMUNITY...LIKELY DELAYED RPT...COR. FOR LOCATION

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2005 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of November 28, 2005

7 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 281:24 AM CSTF0West Carroll Parish, LA0.530$50,000
November 281:56 AM CSTF0Washington, MS1.030$50,000
November 282:40 PM CSTF0Jefferson, AL0.475$40,000
November 284:53 PM CSTF0Dallas, AL5.850$30,000
November 286:41 PM CSTF0Autauga, AL5.4150$30,000
November 287:30 PM CSTF0Elmore, AL0.130$10,000
November 287:44 PM CSTF1Coosa, AL0.4150$20,000

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.