F1 tornado, Double Spgs to Delmar, Alabama, September 25, 2005

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

September 25, 2005

Touchdown

2:57 PM CDT (19:57 UTC)

Path length

2.5 miles (4.0 km)

Path width

150 yards (137 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$20,000

County

Winston County

Touchdown point

34.120, -87.370

Lift-off point

34.180, -87.350

Record number

374

A weak tornado touched down near the Black Pond community southeast of Double Springs. The tornado started just west of County Road 8 northwest of Black Pond. The tornado moved northward and crossed County Road 8 near the Union Grove Freewill Baptist Church. Several trees and power lines were blown down along the path of the tornado. A trampoline was lifted into a power line that remained standing. The Union Grove Freewill Baptist Church suffered minor roof damage and a flag pole was bend in half at the Williams Cemetery. The brief tornado touched down at 254 PM CDT and lifted at 255 PM CDT. The tornado damage path was 0.75 miles long and 50 yards wide at its widest point. This tornado was produced by the remnants of Hurricane Rita. Begin: 34 03.91/87 22.14 End: 34 04.59/87 22.01

The tornado touched down just east of County Road 89 south of Fairview at approximately 257 PM CDT. The tornado moved northeast and crossed US 278 just east of Fairview. The tornado lifted around 301 PM CDT along County Road 91. Numerous trees and power lines were snapped off or blown over along the tornado path. US Highway 278 was impassable due to downed trees. One mobile home had its roof ripped off and deposited several hundred feet to the north. A farm shed was destroyed and it too had parts thrown several hundred yards away. The tornado damage path was 2.5 miles long and 150 yards wide at its widest point. This tornado was produced by the remnants of Hurricane Rita.Begin: 34 07.49/87 21.61 End: 34 09.36/87 20.29

A brief tornado touched down along County Road 17 just east of State Highway 13. The tornado snapped off a few tree tops and knocked down a few power lines. The tornado occurred at approximately 306 PM CDT. The tornado damage path was 0.5 miles long and 30 yards wide at its widest point. This tornado was produced by the remnants of Hurricane Rita. Begin: 34 08.93/87 35.25 End: 34 09.32/87 35.07

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:39 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.

Cullman/Folsom_field_arpt (3A1), 48 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 94 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:59 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.

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

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

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

44 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.