EF1 tornado, Wylaunee, Alabama, March 1, 2007

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.

Rating

EF1

Date

March 1, 2007

Touchdown

3:12 PM CST (21:12 UTC)

Lifted

3:15 PM CST (21:15 UTC)

On the ground

3 minutes

Path length

2.4 miles (3.9 km)

Path width

75 yards (69 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Barbour County

Touchdown point

31.983, -85.130

Lift-off point

31.987, -85.089

Record number

0703011512-01

A powerful spring storm system brought an outbreak of tornadoes, damaging winds, and large hail to Central Alabama.

It has been determined that the damage near Lakepoint Resort State Park was the result of a tornado. The tornado has been rated an EF-1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. The tornado touched down about a half mile west of the US 431 bridge at Cowikee Creek. The tornado tracked northeastward through the Lakepoint Resort State Park and ended in the Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge. At least 100 pine trees were snapped off and several power lines were blown down. The tornado was seen by several individuals as it crossed the bridge over US Highway 431. The tornado damage path was 2.4 miles long and was 75 yards wide at its widest point. The tornado was on the ground from 312 PM CST until 315 PM CST. A Tornado Warning was in effect for Barbour County from 257 PM CST valid until 330 PM CST.

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

15 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:57 UTC, 15 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 15:49 UTC and running to 01:45 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a High Risk, with a 0.30 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 20:06 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 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.

Fort Benning (LSF), 41 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2007 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

42 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.