Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2009

EF1 tornado, Ramer to Pine Level, Alabama, April 19, 2009

From Ramer to Pine Level, this EF1 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Montgomery County on April 19, 2009, touching down at 8:20 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $30,000 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 19, 2009
Touchdown
8:20 PM CDT (01:20 UTC)
Path length
0.1 miles (0.1 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$30,000
County
Montgomery County
Touchdown point
32.114, -86.067
Lift-off point
32.114, -86.067
Record number
0904191920-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A powerful spring storm system and associated cold front brought numerous thunderstorms to central Alabama. Many of the storms produced large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes.

The tornado touched down briefly on Mount Lebanon Road, just to the west of the Gibson community in the southern part of Montgomery County. About 10 trees were snapped or uprooted, the metal roof was blown off a barn, and a home sustained minor shingle damage.

The tornado touched down briefly near the intersection of US-231 and Old Barnes Road, a few miles north of the Pine Level community. Three horse trailers, including one that weighed over 10,000 pounds, were tossed over 50 feet.

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.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 23:40 UTC and running to 01:45 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
09:36 UTC15:35 UTCLake Wind AdvisoryBMX
23:40 UTC01:45 UTCTornado WatchBMX
23:57 UTC00:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMX
01:45 UTC06:00 UTCTornado WatchBMX

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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:48 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

1.3 hours before the tornado, 136 km from the path. April 20, 2009.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2009-04-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 225 joules per kilogram, CIN 0, lifted condensation level 490 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 2009-04-20The 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 466 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 52 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
225 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Surface CAPE
141 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
490 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
466 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
529 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
2.5
0-3 km lapse rate
5.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 12:00Z

10.7 hours after it, 136 km from the path. April 20, 2009.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2009-04-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 7 joules per kilogram, CIN 0, lifted condensation level 473 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 2009-04-20The 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 -54 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 30 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
7 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Surface CAPE
18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
473 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
1 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
01:10 UTCTORNADO 03 Wnw MeadvilleMontgomery, ALJUST WEST OF THE TOWN OF GIBSON, A TORNADO BRIEFLY TOUCHED DOWN TO THE WEST OF MT. LEBANON ROAD AND TRAVELED TO THE EAST FOR 0.15 MILES, LIFTING JUST TO THE EAST OF MT. LEBANON ROAD. DAMAGE ALONG THE PATH INCLUDED EIGHT
01:10 UTCTORNADO3 Wnw MeadvilleMontgomery, ALEF-0. TEN TREES SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. METAL ROOFING BLOWN OFF A BARN AND MINOR SHINGLE DAMAGE TO ONE HOME.
01:20 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Sse Carters HillMontgomery, ALTREES DOWN AND BARN DESTROYED AT THE INTERSECTION OF OLD LONG ROAD AND MOUNT LEBANON ROAD. ALSO...HORSE TRAILERS TURNED UPSIDE DOWN AT THE 1800 BLOCK OF US HIGHWAY 231.
01:20 UTCTORNADO 15 Ne MeadvilleMontgomery, ALA TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN JUST WEST OF US HIGHWAY 231 ACROSS FROM OLD BARNES ROAD. THE TORNADO TRAVELED EAST-NORTHEAST FOR 0.20 MILES AND LIFTED ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY. ALONG THE PATH, DAMAGE INCLUDED THREE HORSE T
01:20 UTCTORNADO 15 Ne MeadvilleMontgomery, ALTHREE HORSE TRAILERS TOSSED 50 TO 100 FEET...DESTROYING ONE TRAILER. ONE TRAILER WAS REPORTED TO WEIGH 10,000 POUNDS AND BLOWN 50 FEET.
01:36 UTCTORNADO 03 N ShoptonBullock, ALA TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN 3 MILES NORTH OF THE TOWN OF SHOPTON. DAMAGE INCLUDED NUMEROUS TREES SNAPPED AND UPROOTED. THE LENGTH OF THE PATH WAS 0.10 MILES AND WAS 50 YARDS WIDE.
01:36 UTCTORNADO 03 N ShoptonBullock, ALNUMEROUS TREES SNAPPED OR UPROOTED.
01:40 UTCTORNADO10 W Union SpringsBullock, ALLOCAL POLICE REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR FRANKLIN FIELD WEST OF UNION SPRINGS.
02:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Sse Tuskegee NationalMacon, ALCOUPLE TREES DOWN ON COUNTY RD 71 BETWEEN RED RD AND LITTLE TEXAS...TIME ESTIMATED.
02:45 UTCTSTM WND DMGCreek StandMacon, ALCOUPLE TREES DOWN NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF COUNTY RD 79 AND COUNTY RD 10...TIME ESTIMATED.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2009 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 19, 2009

18 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 195:52 PM CDTEF0Hale, AL3.625$15,000
April 196:03 PM CDTEF0Lawrence, AL1.325$18,000
April 196:04 PM CDTEF1Perry, AL4.050$10,000
April 196:16 PM CDTEF0Shelby, AL2.0800$20,000
April 196:18 PM CDTEF1Lawrence, AL4.467$30,000
April 196:28 PM CDTEF1Perry, AL1.2100$30,000
April 196:43 PM CDTEF0Morgan, AL2.050$25,000
April 196:53 PM CDTEF0Shelby, AL3.3100$10,000
April 196:58 PM CDTEF0Morgan, AL0.550$20,000
April 198:10 PM CDTEF0Montgomery, AL0.1150$12,000
April 198:35 PM CDTEF1Marshall, AL3.06011
April 198:36 PM CDTEF0Bullock, AL0.150$5,000
April 198:59 PM CDTEF2Blount, AL6.3300$400,000
April 199:03 PM CDTEF0DeKalb, AL1.150$17,000
April 199:16 PM CDTEF1DeKalb, AL5.315013
April 199:21 PM CDTEF1St. Clair, AL2.975$20,000
April 1911:00 PM EDTEF1Cherokee, GA1.58802$5.0 million
April 1910:33 PM CDTEF2Muscogee, AL to GA3.5250$3.5 million

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.