Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2007

EF1 tornado, Sayre, Alabama, April 11, 2007

This EF1 tornado ran 0.6 miles across Jefferson County on April 11, 2007, touching down at 3:14 PM CDT and reaching 40 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 Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. EF065 to 85 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

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

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. 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.

  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
EF1
Date
April 11, 2007
Touchdown
3:14 PM CDT (20:14 UTC)
Lifted
3:16 PM CDT (20:16 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
0.6 miles (0.9 km)
Path width
40 yards (37 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$20,000
County
Jefferson County
Touchdown point
33.750, -86.980
Lift-off point
33.751, -86.980
Record number
0704111414-01

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 down in the Bagley Community, on Tate Mill Road just northwest of CR 140. The tornado tracked east and lifted on Humber Road, just east of CR 140. Several windows were blown out of homes and automobiles. One 18-wheeler carrying a load was overturned. One office trailer was overturned. Several hardwood trees were either snapped off or uprooted. At least one of the trees fell on and damaged a home.

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

The warnings

10 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:04 UTC, 10 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:44 UTC and running to 22:03 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
12:00 UTC22:00 UTCLake Wind AdvisoryBMX
18:44 UTC22:03 UTCTornado WatchBMX
20:04 UTC20:30 UTCTornado WarningBMX
20:26 UTC20:36 UTCTornado WarningBMX
20:41 UTC21:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm 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 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

8.2 hours before the tornado, 66 km from the path. April 11, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2007-04-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1 joules per kilogram, CIN -195, lifted condensation level 501 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 2007-04-11The 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 342 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 51 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
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

3.8 hours after it, 66 km from the path. April 12, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2007-04-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 557 joules per kilogram, CIN -7, lifted condensation level 743 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 2007-04-12The 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 33 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 71 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
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 radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:12 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
20:14 UTCTORNADO 111 Sw WarriorJefferson, ALSHERIFFS DEPUTY REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE GROUND SOUTHWEST OF WARRIOR. THIS IS THE BAGLEY TORNADO LISTED ABOVE.
20:15 UTCTORNADO 111 Sw WarriorJefferson, ALSEVERAL TREES WERE EITHER SNAPPED OFF OR UPROOTED IN THE BAGLEY COMMUNITY. A FEW HOMES SUFFERED SHINGLE DAMAGE AND AT LEAST ONE TREE FELL ON A HOME. AN 18-WHEELER WAS OVERTURNED. ONE MAUNFACTURED OFFICE WAS ROLLED OVER.
20:20 UTCTORNADO8 W WarriorBlount, ALREPORTS FROM SHERRIFS OFFICE TORNADO ON THE GROUND
20:35 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD6 Ne PinsonJefferson, ALA FUNNEL CLOUD WAS OBSERVED IN THE VILLAGE SPRINGS COMMUNITY ALONG STATE HIGHWAY 75 IN NORTHEAST JEFFERSON COUNTY.
20:35 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD6 N PinsonJefferson, ALVILLAGE SPRINGS IN SOUTHERN BLOUNT NORTHERN JEFFERSON COUNTY
20:40 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Nw GardendaleJefferson, ALA FEW HOMES WERE DAMAGED ON MT. OLIVE ROAD.
20:40 UTCTSTM WND DMGGardendaleJefferson, ALMT. OLIVE RD. HOMES DAMAGED
21:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG12 Sw WarriorJefferson, ALTREES DOWN, SHINGLES OFF ROOFS HUMBER RD. AND GENE HUMBER RD. AND 8418 RIVER RD.

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.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 114:20 PM EDTEF0Clay, IN0.150$3,000
April 113:47 PM CDTEF1Chilton, AL1.0200$11,000
April 115:35 PM EDTEF0Hendricks, IN0.150
April 115:05 PM CDTEF0Elmore, AL0.125$5,000
April 115:18 PM CDTEF1Tallapoosa, AL0.950$20,000
April 116:37 PM EDTEF1Hendricks, IN4.975$70,000
April 115:54 PM CDTEF1Macon, AL11.5400$15,000
April 117:25 PM EDTEF2Hamilton, IN4.0100$150,000
April 117:30 PM EDTEF1Tipton, IN0.1100$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.