Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2007

EF1 tornado, Mulberry, Alabama, February 13, 2007

This EF1 tornado ran 1.1 miles across Autauga County on February 13, 2007, touching down at 6:22 PM CST and reaching 200 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $10,000 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
February 13, 2007
Touchdown
6:22 PM CST (00:22 UTC)
Lifted
6:23 PM CST (00:23 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
1.1 miles (1.8 km)
Path width
200 yards (183 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$10,000
County
Autauga County
Touchdown point
32.465, -86.747
Lift-off point
32.452, -86.737
Record number
0702131822-01

What the Weather Service recorded

An intense winter storm and passing cold front caused several tornadoes and numerous severe thunderstorms across Central Alabama.

The tornado touched down briefly central Autauga County, about 5 miles west of Autaugaville, near the intersection of State Highway 14 and County Road 33. Several trees were snapped off and uprooted. The roof of a carport was lifted off and thrown into the front yard of another residence, and a tractor shed in the same area had sheet metal blown off its roof.

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

The warnings

9 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:13 UTC, 9 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 23:18 UTC and running to 01:51 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
18:57 UTC23:18 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchBMX
23:18 UTC01:51 UTCTornado WatchBMX
23:36 UTC00:15 UTCTornado WarningBMX
00:13 UTC00:45 UTCTornado WarningBMX
00:41 UTC02:45 UTCFlash Flood WarningBMX
10:00 UTC00:00 UTCLake Wind AdvisoryBMX

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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:59 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), 00:00Z

0.4 hours before the tornado, 80 km from the path. February 14, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2007-02-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 429 joules per kilogram, CIN -19, lifted condensation level 767 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2007-02-14The 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 163 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 40 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
429 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-19 J/kg
Surface CAPE
508 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
767 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
163 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
284 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
2.1
0-3 km lapse rate
6.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 12:00Z

11.6 hours after it, 80 km from the path. February 14, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2007-02-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2 joules per kilogram, CIN -1, lifted condensation level 576 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2007-02-14The 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 -59 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 39 knots.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Surface CAPE
12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
576 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-59 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
19 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
0.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 79 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:22 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
23:23 UTCTSTM WND DMG6 S MarionPerry, ALTRRES WERE BLOWN DOWN SOUTH OF MARION NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF STATE HIGHWAY 5 AND COUNTY ROAD 38.
23:44 UTCHAIL 14 N SelmaDallas, ALQUARTER SIZED HAIL 4 MILES NORTH OF SELMA.
00:15 UTCHAIL 2.752 N SelmaDallas, ALBASEBALL SIZED HAIL IN VALLEY GRANDE.
00:40 UTCHAIL 0.75PrattvilleAutauga, ALPENNY SIZED HAIL AT THE HIGHWAY 82 AND 14 INTERSECTION.
00:41 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Nw AutaugavilleAutauga, ALTREES DOWN AND PEA SIZED HAIL AT THE INTERSECTION OF COUNTY ROAD 45 AND COUNTY ROAD 33.
00:52 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Nw PrattvilleAutauga, ALTREES AND POWER LINES DOWN IN BOOTH...ON COUNTY ROAD 165...JUST OFF HIGHWAY 82.
00:55 UTCHAIL 0.75MontgomeryMontgomery, ALTHREE QUARTER INCH HAIL WAS REPORTED ON THE MAXWELL AIRFORCE BASE OBSERVATION AT 0055Z.
00:58 UTCHAIL 1MontgomeryMontgomery, ALPENNY TO QUARTER SIZED HAIL IN MONTGOMERY...IN OVERLOOK PARK NEAR BELL STREET...AND PINE HILL ROAD AND THE ATLANTA HIGHWAY.
01:04 UTCHAIL 0.75MontgomeryMontgomery, ALPENNY SIZED HAIL ON NEIL DRIVE...JUST EAST OF THE EASTERN BLVD.
01:05 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDMontgomeryMontgomery, ALFUNNEL CLOUD OVER US HIGHWAY 231...NEAR PIKE ROAD.
01:05 UTCHAIL 1.751 S MontgomeryMontgomery, ALGOLF BALL SIZED HAIL JUST SOUTH OF MONTGOMERY NEAR PIKE ROAD.
01:06 UTCHAIL 1MontgomeryMontgomery, ALQUARTER SIZED HAIL ON I-85 AND THE EASTERN BLVD IN MONTGOMERY.
01:08 UTCHAIL 0.88MontgomeryMontgomery, ALNICKEL SIZED HAIL JUST OFF CARMICHAEL ROAD.
01:13 UTCHAIL 1MontgomeryMontgomery, ALQUARTER SIZED HAIL IN MONTGOMERY...ON WINONA AVENUE NEAR FEDERAL DRIVE.
01:20 UTCTSTM WND DMGMontgomeryMontgomery, ALTREES DOWN NEAR ANN STREET IN MONTGOMERY.
01:20 UTCFLASH FLOODMontgomeryMontgomery, ALFLOODING IN THE ANN STREET AREA OF MONTGOMERY.
01:23 UTCFLASH FLOODPrattvilleAutauga, ALSEVERAL ROADS IN PRATTVILLE WERE TEMPORARILY IMPASSABLE DUE TO HIGH WATER. SOME OF THE STREETS INCLUDE WATER STREET, DOSTER STREET, SELMA HIGHWAY AND HIGHWAY 31.

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 February 13, 2007

20 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 1312:10 AM CSTEF1Lafayette Parish, LA2.250$250,000
February 1312:36 AM CSTEF2Saint Martin Parish, LA4.33003$1.5 million
February 131:03 AM CSTEF0Iberia Parish, LA0.525$30,000
February 131:25 AM CSTEF0Vermilion Parish, LA0.525$40,000
February 132:55 AM CSTEF2Jefferson Parish, LA2.3509$2.0 million
February 133:03 AM CSTEF2Orleans Parish, LA6.55015$2.0 million
February 133:10 AM CSTEF2Orleans Parish, LA1.350110$1.0 million
February 133:52 AM CSTEF1Smith, MS3.775$300,000
February 134:13 AM CSTEF0Jefferson Davis, MS3.075$5,000
February 134:45 AM CSTEF0Pearl River, MS0.325$2,000
February 137:20 AM CSTEF0Jackson, MS0.325
February 133:05 PM ESTEF1Liberty, FL0.350$15,000
February 135:47 PM ESTEF1McCormick, SC16.0200$4,000
February 135:55 PM ESTEF1Edgefield, SC15.360
February 135:01 PM CSTEF0Hale, AL6.525$55,000
February 135:10 PM CSTEF1Bibb, AL9.7400$105,000
February 136:28 PM ESTEF1Screven, GA0.6351$9,000
February 135:48 PM CSTEF0Bibb, AL7.5250$10,000
February 137:01 PM ESTEF1Allendale, SC0.030$3,000
February 137:27 PM ESTEF0Bamberg, SC2.040

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.