Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2008

EF1 tornado, Acmar to Branchville, Alabama, December 10, 2008

From Acmar to Branchville, this EF1 tornado ran 3.9 miles across St. Clair County on December 10, 2008, touching down at 4:34 AM CST and reaching 300 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $82,000 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
December 10, 2008
Touchdown
4:34 AM CST (10:34 UTC)
Lifted
4:40 AM CST (10:40 UTC)
On the ground
6 minutes
Path length
3.9 miles (6.3 km)
Path width
300 yards (274 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$82,000
County
St. Clair County
Touchdown point
33.624, -86.454
Lift-off point
33.648, -86.392
Record number
0812100434-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A developing strong storm system across the Southeastern United States caused several severe thunderstorms and locally heavy rainfall. Cold air surging in on the back side of the storm system caused the rain to turn over to snow, some of which became heavy.

The tornado touched down near the intersection of US-411, Meyers Road, and Church Road, near the Bethel Baptist Church. It then traveled northeastward and lifted just northeast of AL-174. At least 5 homes suffered extensive roof damage. At least 4 outbuildings were completely destroyed. Approximately 100 trees were either uprooted or snapped off. A glass enclosed sun-room was completely destroyed.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 07:41 UTC and running to 11:55 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
07:41 UTC11:55 UTCTornado WatchBMX
10:38 UTC10:58 UTCTornado 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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:52 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

10.6 hours before the tornado, 61 km from the path. December 10, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2008-12-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 167 joules per kilogram, CIN -33, lifted condensation level 741 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 2008-12-10The 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 336 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 49 knots.193958Sfc1 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
167 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-33 J/kg
Surface CAPE
34 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
741 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
336 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
421 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.8
0-3 km lapse rate
6.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 12:00Z

1.4 hours after it, 61 km from the path. December 10, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2008-12-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -75262, lifted condensation level 674 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2008-12-10The 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 -153 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 57 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-75262 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
674 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-153 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
15 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2
0-3 km lapse rate
4.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 61 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 10:34 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
08:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 N OneontaBlount, ALA FEW TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN ACROSS THE NORTHERN PART OF THE COUNTY.
08:40 UTCTSTM WND DMGHaydenBlount, ALA FEW TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN ACROSS THE WESTERN PART OF THE COUNTY.
10:20 UTCTSTM WND DMGMoodySt. Clair, ALPOSSIBLE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN IN THE OAKMAN AREA. OAKMAN HAD SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND SOME DAMAGE TO THE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL FIELD...THE VISITORS BLEACHERS ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD. THERE ARE S
10:34 UTCTORNADO3 Nne MoodySt. Clair, ALSTORM SURVEY INDICATED AN EF1 MAGNITUDE TORNADO WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF 95 MPH. PATH LENGTH 3.8 MILES, WIDTH 300 YARDS. DAMAGE INCLUDED 5 HOMES WITH EXTENSIVE ROOF DAMAGE, AT LEAST 4 OUTBUILDINGS COMPLETELY DESTROYED. APPR
10:35 UTCTSTM WND DMGMoodySt. Clair, ALPOSSIBLE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN ON HIGHWAY 411 NEAR THE BETHEL CHURCH AREA. SOME DAMAGE TO THE CHURCH...EXACT EXTENT UNKNOWN. SEVERAL HOMES DAMAGED IN THIS AREA ALSO.
10:35 UTCTSTM WND DMGOdenvilleSt. Clair, ALPOSSIBLE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN ON HIGHWAY 411 NEAR THE BETHEL CHURCH AREA. SOME DAMAGE TO THE CHURCH...EXACT EXTENT UNKNOWN. SEVERAL HOMES DAMAGED IN THIS AREA ALSO.
11:35 UTCFLASH FLOODGadsdenEtowah, ALSEVERAL STREET CLOSURES IN DOWNTOWN GADSDEN FROM 535 AM UNTIL AFTER 615 AM. MEIGHAN DR AND 4TH AND BAY ST.
11:45 UTCTSTM WND DMGGadsdenEtowah, AL2925 NOCCALULA PKWAY TREE DOWN ON A HOUSE WITH DAMAGE
12:00 UTCFLASH FLOODBirminghamJefferson, ALA FEW ROADS BECAME IMPASSABLE DUE TO HEAVY RAIN IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.
12:54 UTCTSTM WND DMGGadsdenEtowah, ALOAKLAND DR NEAR WHARTONS BEND. TREES DOWN

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2008 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of December 10, 2008

6 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 1012:43 AM CSTEF1Walker, AL0.8400$215,000
December 101:01 AM CSTEF2Walker, AL4.7400$100,000
December 101:02 AM CSTEF2Jackson, AL4.5300$300,000
December 101:08 AM CSTEF1Jones, MS1.01502$250,000
December 101:13 AM CSTEF1Lamar, MS0.6100$700,000
December 107:41 AM ESTEF0Haralson, GA0.150$600,000

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.