Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2007
EF0 tornado, Wetumpka, Alabama, April 11, 2007
This EF0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Elmore County on April 11, 2007, touching down at 5:05 PM CDT and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $5,000 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 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
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
- EF0
- Date
- April 11, 2007
- Touchdown
- 5:05 PM CDT (22:05 UTC)
- Path length
- 0.1 miles (0.1 km)
- Path width
- 25 yards (23 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $5,000
- County
- Elmore County
- Touchdown point
- 32.481, -86.154
- Lift-off point
- 32.481, -86.154
- Record number
- 0704111605-01
What the Weather Service recorded
Supercell thunderstorms developed in the afternoon and evening hours, producing severe weather that included tornadoes and very large hail.
A brief tornado touched down near Ridgefield Drive in the New Bingham Community. The tornado caused minor damage to at least one home and knocked a few trees over.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
38 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:27 UTC, 38 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:15 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:44 UTC and running to 23:51 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18:44 UTC | 23:51 UTC | Tornado Watch | BMX |
| 21:27 UTC | 22:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | BMX |
| 22:09 UTC | 22:35 UTC | Tornado Warning | BMX |
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 Slight Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:53 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
10.1 hours before the tornado, 97 km from the path. April 11, 2007.
- 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
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 00:00Z
1.9 hours after it, 97 km from the path. April 12, 2007.
- 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
What was reported nearby
Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:00 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | Clanton | Chilton, AL | NICKEL SIZE HAIL WAS OBSERVED IN CLANTON. |
| 21:00 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | Clanton | Chilton, AL | |
| 21:16 UTC | HAIL 1 | Pine Level | Autauga, AL | |
| 21:39 UTC | HAIL 1 | Pine Level | Autauga, AL | QUARTER SIZED HAIL WAS REPORTED IN THE PINE LEVEL COMMUNITY. |
| 21:39 UTC | HAIL 1 | Pine Level | Autauga, AL | |
| 21:47 UTC | HAIL 1.25 | 2 N Millbrook | Elmore, AL | HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF HALF DOLLARS WAS REPORTED NEAR NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF STATE HIGHWAY 14 AND STATE HIGHWAY 143. |
| 21:47 UTC | HAIL 1.25 | Millbrook | Elmore, AL | HW 14 / HW 143 |
| 21:50 UTC | HAIL 1 | Coosada | Elmore, AL | IN TOWN |
| 21:50 UTC | HAIL 1 | Coosada | Elmore, AL | QUARTER SIZE HAIL WAS OBSERVED IN COOSADA. |
| 21:51 UTC | HAIL 2.75 | 3 W Wetumpka | Elmore, AL | BASEBALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED ALONG STATE HIGHWAY 14 BETWEEN WETUMPKA AND ELMORE. |
| 21:51 UTC | HAIL 2.75 | 3 W Wetumpka | Elmore, AL | HW 14 |
| 21:55 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | 10 Nw Wetumpka | Elmore, AL | NICKEL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED IN THE HOLTVILLE COMMUNITY. |
| 21:55 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | 10 Nw Wetumpka | Elmore, AL | |
| 21:58 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 2 W Wetumpka | Elmore, AL | HWY 14 AND HW 143 CITY OF ELMORE |
| 21:58 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 5 W Wetumpka | Elmore, AL | A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS OBSEVED ALOGN STATE HIGHWAY 14 AND STATE HIGHWAY 143 NEAR ELMORE. |
| 21:58 UTC | HAIL 2 | Millbrook | Elmore, AL | |
| 21:58 UTC | HAIL 2.75 | Millbrook | Elmore, AL | HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF BASEBALLS FELL IN AND AROUND MILLBROOK. |
| 22:00 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Millbrook | Elmore, AL | CARPORT DAMAGE WINDOWS BLOWN OUT |
| 22:00 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | Millbrook | Elmore, AL | PENNY SIZE HAIL COVERING THE GROUND IN SEVERAL LOCATIONS. |
| 22:00 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | Millbrook | Elmore, AL | WIDESPREAD HAIL ACROSS SOUTHERN SECTION OF COUNTY |
| 22:00 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 5 Ne Equality | Coosa, AL | GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED 2 MILES EAST OF THE NIXBURG COMMUNITY IN SOUTHEAST COOSA COUNTY. |
| 22:00 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | E Rockford | Coosa, AL | 2 MILE E OF NIXBURG |
| 22:00 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | Millbrook | Elmore, AL | ONE CARPORT WAS DAMAGED AND WINDOWS WERE BLOWN OUT OF A HOME IN MILLBROOK DUE TO HAIL DAMAGE. |
| 22:00 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | Millbrook | Elmore, AL | ONE PORCH WAS DAMAGED AND A BAY WINDOW WAS BLOWN OUT OF A HOME IN MILLBROOK DUE TO HAIL DAMAGE. ADAM-EMA CALLED TO REPORT. |
| 22:00 UTC | LIGHTNING | Millbrook | Elmore, AL | *** 1 INJ *** ONE PERSON WAS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING NEAR EMERALD MOUNTAIN. THE PERSON WAS WORKING IN A HOUSE UNDER CONSTRUCTION. |
| 22:04 UTC | HAIL 1 | 2 S Alexander City | Tallapoosa, AL | QUARTER SIZE HAIL WAS OBSERVED NEAR ALEXANDER CITY. |
| 22:04 UTC | HAIL 1 | 2 S Alexander City | Tallapoosa, AL | |
| 22:05 UTC | HAIL 0.5 | 6 Se Alexander City | Tallapoosa, AL | MARBLE SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED WHERE US HIGHWAY 280 CROSSES LAKE MARTIN. |
| 22:05 UTC | HAIL 0.5 | 6 Se Alexander City | Tallapoosa, AL | |
| 22:05 UTC | TORNADO | 5 Se Wetumpka | Elmore, AL | A BRIEF EF0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR THE NEW BINGHAM COMMUNITY. AT LEAST ONE HOME RECEIVED MINOR DAMAGE AND A FEW TREES WERE KNOCKED DOWN. |
| 22:15 UTC | HAIL 0.25 | E Wetumpka | Elmore, AL | PEA SIZE FELL AROUND WETUMPKA. |
| 22:15 UTC | HAIL 0.25 | E Wetumpka | Elmore, AL | |
| 22:18 UTC | TORNADO 1 | Dadeville | Tallapoosa, AL | TORNADO CAPTURED ON VIDEO ON THE EAST SIDE OF DADEVILLE. STRUCTURAL DAMAGE WAS REPORTED NORTHEAST OF US HIGHWAY 280 IN DADEVILLE. A LUMBER COMPANY AND A FEW HOMES SUSTAINED DAMAGE. NUMEROUS TREES WERE UPROOTED. |
| 22:20 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 2 E Alexander City | Tallapoosa, AL | GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED AROUND ALEXANDER CITY. |
| 22:20 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 2 E Alexander City | Tallapoosa, AL | |
| 22:26 UTC | HAIL 2.75 | 4 W Tallassee | Elmore, AL | BASEBALL SIZE HAIL FELL IN THE FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY. |
| 22:26 UTC | HAIL 2.75 | E Wetumpka | Elmore, AL | FRIENSHIP COMMUNITY |
| 22:30 UTC | TORNADO | Dadeville | Tallapoosa, AL | ON THE GROUND HWYS 280 AND CNTY 49 |
| 22:54 UTC | TORNADO 1 | 6 Se Tuskegee | Macon, AL | AN EF1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN BETWEEN TUSKEGEE AND WARRIORSTAND AND TRACKED EAST SOUTHEAST FOR ABOUT 12 MILES. IT LIFTED NEAR THE UCHEE COMMUNITY IN RUSSELL COUNTY. THE TORNADO SNAPPED OFF OR DOWNED HUNDREDS OF TREES ALONG |
| 22:54 UTC | TORNADO | 6 Se Tuskegee | Macon, AL | AN EF1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN BETWEEN TUSKEGEE AND WARRIORSTAND AND TRACKED EAST SOUTHEAST FOR ABOUT 12 MILES. IT LIFTED NEAR THE UCHEE COMMUNITY IN RUSSELL COUNTY. THE TORNADO SNAPPED OFF OR DOWNED HUNDREDS OF TREES ALONG |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2007 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe 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) | Deaths | Injuries | 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 | 3:47 PM CDT | EF1 | Chilton, AL | 1.0 | 200 | $11,000 | ||
| April 11 | 5:35 PM EDT | EF0 | Hendricks, IN | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| 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.