Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2007

EF1 tornado, Randolph to Hubbard, Alabama, April 11, 2007

Name: EF1 tornado, Randolph to Hubbard, Alabama, April 11, 2007
Start: 2007-04-11T20:47:00.000Z
End: 2007-04-11T20:50:00.000Z
Location: Randolph to Hubbard, Alabama

From Randolph to Hubbard, this EF1 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Chilton and Bibb counties on April 11, 2007, touching down at 3:47 PM CDT and reaching 200 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $11,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 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.
EF3136 to 165 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF5over 200 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.
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: EF1
Date: April 11, 2007
Touchdown: 3:47 PM CDT (20:47 UTC)
Lifted: 3:50 PM CDT (20:50 UTC)
On the ground: 3 minutes
Path length: 1.0 miles (1.6 km)
Path width: 200 yards (183 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $11,000
Counties: Chilton and Bibb counties
Touchdown point: 32.910, -86.892
Lift-off point: 32.900, -86.875
Record number: 0704111447-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Supercell thunderstorms developed in the afternoon and evening hours, producing severe weather that included tornadoes and very large hail.

The tornado touched near the intersection of CR 36 and New Hope Village, just east of Randolph. The tornado then tracked east southeast for about a mile, before crossing into Chilton County. Several trees were either blown down or snapped off along the short path. One home was damaged by a fallen tree and one home suffered minor shingle damage.

The tornado, which began in Bibb County, was on the ground for about a tenth of a mile in Chilton County before it lifted. It produced only light damage in Chilton County.

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

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Apr 11, 3:01 PM CDT, 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 11, 3:01 PM CDT, 46 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
301 PM CDT WED APR 11 2007

.SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT.

A LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVING AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT
WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE QUICKLY ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE FRONT WILL CLEAR THE AREA SHORTLY AFTER
MIDNIGHT.

COOLER TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED LATER TONIGHT. ONCE AGAIN...WILL
GO SLIGHTLY WARMER THAN MOS. IT HAS NOT BEEN A GOOD WEEK FOR MOS.
WILL ALSO TREND WARMER FOR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY.

THE NEXT WEATHER SYSTEM IS SCHEDULE TO IMPACT CENTRAL ALABAMA LATE
FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY. MODELS ARE NOW SHOWING A VERY
IMPRESSIVE SYSTEM. GOOD UPPER LEVEL DYNAMICS...STRONG LOW LEVEL
JET...AND GOOD SURFACE BASED INSTABILITY. CONFIDENCE IS
INCREASING. MODELS SHOULD BEGIN TO STICK TO ONE SOLUTION AS WE GET
CLOSER AND CLOSER. THURSDAYS MODEL RUNS SHOULD PROVIDE US WITH A
BETTER IDEA OF WHAT TO EXPECT.

COOLER TEMPERATURES RETURN ON SUNDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE SETS IN.

10/ARM

.LONG TERM...SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY.

DRY CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH MID WEEK. LONG RANGE MODELS
SHOW INDICATE THAT ANOTHER SYSTEM WILL APPROACH THE AREA LATE
WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY. TOO EARLY TO TELL WHAT THIS SYSTEM WILL
BRING.

10/ARM

&&

.AVIATION...18Z TAF DISCUSSION.

MVFR OR IFR CEILINGS AT ALL SITES CONTINUE WITH SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING TO THE WEST ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN
MISSISSIPPI. IN ADDITION TO PROLONGED IFR CONDITIONS TODAY...MAY SEE
SEVERAL HOURS OF REDUCED VISIBILITY DUE TO
THUNDERSTORMS...ESPECIALLY TCL...BHM...EET AND ANB. AT THE MOMENT
IT LOOKS LIKE THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE ASSOCIATED WITH
A NARROW LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS TCL AROUND
21Z...BHM/EET AROUND 22Z ANNISTON BE 23Z...AND MGM/TOI AFTER 00Z.
ADDITIONALLY...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AHEAD OF
THIS LINE...BUT WILL BE SCATTERED IN NATURE. WINDS WILL ALSO BE
BREEZY OUT OF THE SOUTH...AFFECTING ANY EAST/WEST ORIENTED
RUNWAYS. CEILINGS SHOULD FINALLY COME UP TO VFR BEHIND THE
STORMS/FRONT BEFORE MIDNIGHT AREA WIDE.

12/SIRMON

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
GADSDEN     44  72  43  75  58 /  30  10  10  10  30
ANNISTON    45  72  45  76  59 /  30  10  10  10  30
BIRMINGHAM  46  72  44  76  63 /  20  10  10  10  60
TUSCALOOSA  44  75  47  79  63 /  10  10  10  10  60
CALERA      46  74  44  78  63 /  20  10  10  10  50
AUBURN      50  74  46  79  60 /  30  10  10   0  10
MONTGOMERY  48  77  45  82  61 /  20  10  10  10  20
TROY        48  78  46  82  61 /  20  10  10  10  20

&&

.BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
AL...NONE.

&&

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 11, 1:15 PM CDT, 2 hours 32 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
115 PM CDT WED APR 11 2007

ALZ011>015-017>050-121830-
AUTAUGA-BARBOUR-BIBB-BLOUNT-BULLOCK-CALHOUN-CHAMBERS-CHEROKEE-
CHILTON-CLAY-CLEBURNE-COOSA-DALLAS-ELMORE-ETOWAH-FAYETTE-GREENE-HALE-
JEFFERSON-LAMAR-LEE-LOWNDES-MACON-MARENGO-MARION-MONTGOMERY-PERRY-
PICKENS-PIKE-RANDOLPH-RUSSELL-SHELBY-ST CLAIR-SUMTER-TALLADEGA-
TALLAPOOSA-TUSCALOOSA-WALKER-WINSTON-
115 PM CDT WED APR 11 2007

...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER TODAY...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

THE STORM PREDICTION HAS PLACED ALL OF CENTRAL ALABAMA IN A
SLIGHT RISK AREA FOR SEVERE WEATHER.

STRONG TO POSSIBLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON
ACROSS ALL OF CENTRAL ALABAMA.  SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE
EXPECTED TO FORM AHEAD OF A MORE ORGANIZED LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS
AND RAPIDLY SWEEP ACROSS THE AREA.  THE MAIN THREAT WITH THESE
STORMS WILL BE HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS AND LOCALLY DAMAGING
WINDS.  IN GENERAL THESE STORMS WILL BE MOVING INTO A MORE STABLE
AIRMASS...THUS A GENERAL WEAKENING TREND IS EXPECTED AS THEY MOVE
FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE STATE.  ALL CONVECTION SHOULD MOVE INTO
GEORGIA BY 03Z.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ONCE AGAIN LATE FRIDAY NIGHT
AND SATURDAY. A SQUALL LINE WILL DEVELOP TO THE WEST ON FRIDAY AND
THEN MOVE INTO WESTERN ALABAMA DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS FRIDAY
NIGHT. THE SQUALL LINE WITH EMBEDDED STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
WILL BE IN EASTERN ALABAMA BY MID-DAY. WITH THIS SQUALL LINE WE ARE
ANTICIPATING HEAVY RAIN...DAMAGING WINDS...HAIL...AND ISOLATED
TORNADOES.

THIS SYSTEM WILL NEED TO BE CLOSELY MONITORED AS WE APPROACH THE
WEEKEND. STAY TUNED FOR FURTHER UPDATES ON THIS DEVELOPING STORM
SYSTEM.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL MAY
BE NECESSARY LATER TODAY AND WILL LIKELY BE NECESSARY LATE FRIDAY
NIGHT INTO SATURDAY.

JD/81

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 11, 1:23 PM CDT, 2 hours 24 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
123 PM CDT WED APR 11 2007

ALZ011-111900-
MARION-
123 PM CDT WED APR 11 2007

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT IN EFFECT FOR MARION COUNTY UNTIL 200 PM
CDT...

AT 119 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS ENTERING INTO WESTERN MARION...MOVING EAST
AT 40 MPH.

TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM LIGHTNING BY SEEKING SHELTER IN
A SUBSTANTIAL ENCLOSED BUILDING OR A METAL AUTOMOBILE. IF YOU ARE ON
THE WATER AND YOUR BOAT HAS A CABIN...USE THE CABIN FOR A LIGHTNING
SHELTER. OTHERWISE...BOATERS SHOULD HEAD TO SHORE AND SEEK SHELTER
THERE. AVOID ELECTRICAL DEVICES AND OTHER OBJECTS WHICH CAN CONDUCT
LIGHTNING. WAIT AT LEAST 30 MINUTES AFTER THE LAST RUMBLE OF THUNDER
BEFORE RESUMING OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES.

THE PRIMARY THREAT IS SMALL HAIL. HAIL UP TO ONE HALF INCH IN
DIAMETER...DIME SIZE...IS POSSIBLE. TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT YOURSELF
BY SEEKING SHELTER IN A SUBSTANTIAL ENCLOSED BUILDING. IF OUTDOORS
AND A SUBSTANTIAL ENCLOSED BUILDING IS NOT AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER
IN AN AUTOMOBILE.

Local storm report, Apr 11, 2:27 PM CDT, 1 hour 20 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
227 PM CDT WED APR 11 2007

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0200 PM     HAIL             BEAR CREEK              34.26N 87.72W
04/11/2007  E0.75 INCH       MARION             AL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            REPORTED BY PUBLIC TO EMA

0200 PM     HAIL             6 N WINFIELD            34.02N 87.80W
04/11/2007  E0.75 INCH       MARION             AL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            US 78 AND AL 44

&&

SUNGER

Local storm report, Apr 11, 3:22 PM CDT, 25 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
322 PM CDT WED APR 11 2007

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0320 PM     TORNADO          8 W WARRIOR             33.81N 86.95W
04/11/2007                   BLOUNT             AL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            REPORTS FROM SHERRIFS OFFICE TORNADO ON THE GROUND

&&

SUNGER

Local storm report, Apr 11, 3:23 PM CDT, 24 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
323 PM CDT WED APR 11 2007

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0255 PM     HAIL             5 E DEMOPOLIS           32.50N 87.75W
04/11/2007  E1.75 INCH       MARENGO            AL   LAW ENFORCEMENT

&&

SUNGER

Local storm report, Apr 11, 3:25 PM CDT, 22 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
325 PM CDT WED APR 11 2007

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0240 PM     HAIL             DEMOPOLIS               32.50N 87.83W
04/11/2007  E1.00 INCH       MARENGO            AL   LAW ENFORCEMENT

&&

SUNGER

Local storm report, Apr 11, 3:26 PM CDT, 21 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
326 PM CDT WED APR 11 2007

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0325 PM     HAIL             BRENT                   32.94N 87.18W
04/11/2007  E1.75 INCH       BIBB               AL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            BEHIND COURT HOUSE

&&

SUNGER

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

8.8 hours before the tornado, 32 km from the path. April 11, 2007.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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: 1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -195 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 501 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 51 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 342 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 389 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: -0.3
0-3 km lapse rate: 3.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 00:00Z

3.2 hours after it, 32 km from the path. April 12, 2007.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

Mixed-layer CAPE: 557 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -7 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 1064 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 743 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 71 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 288 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 2.5
0-3 km lapse rate: 6.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Alabaster (EET), 32 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
00:00 UTC

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

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 32 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:46 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.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2007 tornado in Alabama Every tornado in Alabama since 1950 Warnings in force in Alabama now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 11, 2007

9 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 11	3:14 PM CDT	EF1	Jefferson, AL	0.6	40	$20,000
April 11	4:20 PM EDT	EF0	Clay, IN	0.1	50	$3,000
April 11	5:35 PM EDT	EF0	Hendricks, IN	0.1	50
April 11	5:05 PM CDT	EF0	Elmore, AL	0.1	25	$5,000
April 11	5:18 PM CDT	EF1	Tallapoosa, AL	0.9	50	$20,000
April 11	6:37 PM EDT	EF1	Hendricks, IN	4.9	75	$70,000
April 11	5:54 PM CDT	EF1	Macon, AL	11.5	400	$15,000
April 11	7:25 PM EDT	EF2	Hamilton, IN	4.0	100	$150,000
April 11	7:30 PM EDT	EF1	Tipton, IN	0.1	100	$32,000

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.