F2 tornado, Locust Fork to Allgood, Alabama, September 22, 2006

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 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. 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.

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

F2

Date

September 22, 2006

Touchdown

6:02 PM CDT (23:02 UTC)

Path length

1.3 miles (2.1 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$70,000

County

Blount County

Touchdown point

33.830, -86.680

Lift-off point

33.850, -86.670

Record number

919

The tornado touched down briefly between the Lehigh Community and AL-79. One mobile home and one barn were completely destroyed. Two automobiles and one motorcycle were lifted from inside a barn and thrown at least 50 yards. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down along its damage path.

The tornado briefly touched down just south of Locust Fork, along Spunky Hollow Road near Azzilee Circle. A substantial workshop structure collapsed due to wall failure, as the entire roof was removed and pushed off. A home under construction was completely destroyed, and several other homes suffered roof and shingle damage. Several trees were knocked down along the path.

The tornado touched down just southwest of the Allgood community, north of Highway 75. The tornado then tracked northeastward, remaining north of Highway 75 the entire time. It dissipated in the city of Oneonta, just north of the Blount County Courthouse near 7th Street. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down along the tornado path. Oneonta High School suffered significant damage to its football field press box, and two concession stands were destroyed. The high school structure also sustained roof damage. The Blount County Courthouse sustained roof damage and many flagpoles were broken down. Several homes and out-buildings received major damage and a local gas station had its canopy blown off. Three people were injured as the tornado moved through, one seriously.

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

19 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:43 UTC, 19 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:13 UTC and running to 00:00 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:56 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.

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

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

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 75 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:02 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 2006 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

32 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.