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.
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
- 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) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18:57 UTC | 23:18 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | BMX |
| 23:18 UTC | 01:51 UTC | Tornado Watch | BMX |
| 23:36 UTC | 00:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | BMX |
| 00:13 UTC | 00:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | BMX |
| 00:41 UTC | 02:45 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | BMX |
| 10:00 UTC | 00:00 UTC | Lake Wind Advisory | 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 0.02 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.
- 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
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 12:00Z
11.6 hours after it, 80 km from the path. February 14, 2007.
- 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
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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23:23 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 6 S Marion | Perry, AL | TRRES WERE BLOWN DOWN SOUTH OF MARION NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF STATE HIGHWAY 5 AND COUNTY ROAD 38. |
| 23:44 UTC | HAIL 1 | 4 N Selma | Dallas, AL | QUARTER SIZED HAIL 4 MILES NORTH OF SELMA. |
| 00:15 UTC | HAIL 2.75 | 2 N Selma | Dallas, AL | BASEBALL SIZED HAIL IN VALLEY GRANDE. |
| 00:40 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | Prattville | Autauga, AL | PENNY SIZED HAIL AT THE HIGHWAY 82 AND 14 INTERSECTION. |
| 00:41 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Nw Autaugaville | Autauga, AL | TREES DOWN AND PEA SIZED HAIL AT THE INTERSECTION OF COUNTY ROAD 45 AND COUNTY ROAD 33. |
| 00:52 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Nw Prattville | Autauga, AL | TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN IN BOOTH...ON COUNTY ROAD 165...JUST OFF HIGHWAY 82. |
| 00:55 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | Montgomery | Montgomery, AL | THREE QUARTER INCH HAIL WAS REPORTED ON THE MAXWELL AIRFORCE BASE OBSERVATION AT 0055Z. |
| 00:58 UTC | HAIL 1 | Montgomery | Montgomery, AL | PENNY TO QUARTER SIZED HAIL IN MONTGOMERY...IN OVERLOOK PARK NEAR BELL STREET...AND PINE HILL ROAD AND THE ATLANTA HIGHWAY. |
| 01:04 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | Montgomery | Montgomery, AL | PENNY SIZED HAIL ON NEIL DRIVE...JUST EAST OF THE EASTERN BLVD. |
| 01:05 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | Montgomery | Montgomery, AL | FUNNEL CLOUD OVER US HIGHWAY 231...NEAR PIKE ROAD. |
| 01:05 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 1 S Montgomery | Montgomery, AL | GOLF BALL SIZED HAIL JUST SOUTH OF MONTGOMERY NEAR PIKE ROAD. |
| 01:06 UTC | HAIL 1 | Montgomery | Montgomery, AL | QUARTER SIZED HAIL ON I-85 AND THE EASTERN BLVD IN MONTGOMERY. |
| 01:08 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | Montgomery | Montgomery, AL | NICKEL SIZED HAIL JUST OFF CARMICHAEL ROAD. |
| 01:13 UTC | HAIL 1 | Montgomery | Montgomery, AL | QUARTER SIZED HAIL IN MONTGOMERY...ON WINONA AVENUE NEAR FEDERAL DRIVE. |
| 01:20 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Montgomery | Montgomery, AL | TREES DOWN NEAR ANN STREET IN MONTGOMERY. |
| 01:20 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Montgomery | Montgomery, AL | FLOODING IN THE ANN STREET AREA OF MONTGOMERY. |
| 01:23 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Prattville | Autauga, AL | SEVERAL 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.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 13 | 12:10 AM CST | EF1 | Lafayette Parish, LA | 2.2 | 50 | $250,000 | ||
| February 13 | 12:36 AM CST | EF2 | Saint Martin Parish, LA | 4.3 | 300 | 3 | $1.5 million | |
| February 13 | 1:03 AM CST | EF0 | Iberia Parish, LA | 0.5 | 25 | $30,000 | ||
| February 13 | 1:25 AM CST | EF0 | Vermilion Parish, LA | 0.5 | 25 | $40,000 | ||
| February 13 | 2:55 AM CST | EF2 | Jefferson Parish, LA | 2.3 | 50 | 9 | $2.0 million | |
| February 13 | 3:03 AM CST | EF2 | Orleans Parish, LA | 6.5 | 50 | 15 | $2.0 million | |
| February 13 | 3:10 AM CST | EF2 | Orleans Parish, LA | 1.3 | 50 | 1 | 10 | $1.0 million |
| February 13 | 3:52 AM CST | EF1 | Smith, MS | 3.7 | 75 | $300,000 | ||
| February 13 | 4:13 AM CST | EF0 | Jefferson Davis, MS | 3.0 | 75 | $5,000 | ||
| February 13 | 4:45 AM CST | EF0 | Pearl River, MS | 0.3 | 25 | $2,000 | ||
| February 13 | 7:20 AM CST | EF0 | Jackson, MS | 0.3 | 25 | |||
| February 13 | 3:05 PM EST | EF1 | Liberty, FL | 0.3 | 50 | $15,000 | ||
| February 13 | 5:47 PM EST | EF1 | McCormick, SC | 16.0 | 200 | $4,000 | ||
| February 13 | 5:55 PM EST | EF1 | Edgefield, SC | 15.3 | 60 | |||
| February 13 | 5:01 PM CST | EF0 | Hale, AL | 6.5 | 25 | $55,000 | ||
| February 13 | 5:10 PM CST | EF1 | Bibb, AL | 9.7 | 400 | $105,000 | ||
| February 13 | 6:28 PM EST | EF1 | Screven, GA | 0.6 | 35 | 1 | $9,000 | |
| February 13 | 5:48 PM CST | EF0 | Bibb, AL | 7.5 | 250 | $10,000 | ||
| February 13 | 7:01 PM EST | EF1 | Allendale, SC | 0.0 | 30 | $3,000 | ||
| February 13 | 7:27 PM EST | EF0 | Bamberg, SC | 2.0 | 40 |
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.