Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2009

EF1 tornado, Ridge Grove to Valley, Alabama, February 28, 2009

From Ridge Grove to Valley, this EF1 tornado ran 0.3 miles across Lee County on February 28, 2009, touching down at 7:56 AM CST and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $65,000 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 28, 2009
Touchdown
7:56 AM CST (13:56 UTC)
Lifted
7:57 AM CST (13:57 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.3 miles (0.5 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$65,000
County
Lee County
Touchdown point
32.678, -85.494
Lift-off point
32.680, -85.489
Record number
0902280756-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A slow moving cold front brought an extended period of severe weather and heavy rain, that lasted about 24 hours. The storms produced damaging winds, large hail, flooding rains, and at least 4 tornadoes.

The tornado touched down briefly near the intersection of US-280 and CR-147, near an area known as The Bottle. One building sustained heavy damage when its metal roof was peeled off. One car was overturned at a used car dealership and a few trees were snapped or uprooted.

The tornado touched down southwest of the community of Salem. It then moved just north of due east, crossing US-280 and several smaller county roads, before lifting at CR-379. Winds estimated at 125-130 mph destroyed 6 mobile homes and 4 site built homes, badly damaged 8 homes, and caused minor damage to 9 others. Two area businesses were destroyed, one other received minor damage, and one school building was damaged. Hundreds of trees were snapped off and uprooted, and one 18-wheeler was overturned. There were three minor injuries reported, only one that required hospitalization.

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

The warnings

31 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 13:25 UTC, 31 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 14:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 12:57 UTC and running to 16:43 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
01:47 UTC08:52 UTCTornado WatchBMX
12:57 UTC16:43 UTCTornado WatchBMX
13:25 UTC14:15 UTCTornado WarningBMX
13:53 UTC14:45 UTCTornado WarningBMX
13:59 UTC14:45 UTCTornado WarningBMX
14:48 UTC17:45 UTCFlash Flood 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 13:00 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.

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), 12:00Z

1.9 hours before the tornado, 120 km from the path. February 28, 2009.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2009-02-28Temperature 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 -124, lifted condensation level 509 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2009-02-28The 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 524 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 50 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
-124 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
509 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
524 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
700 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), 00:00Z

10.1 hours after it, 120 km from the path. March 1, 2009.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 2009-03-01Temperature 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 -11, lifted condensation level 946 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 2009-03-01The 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 87 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 74 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-11 J/kg
Surface CAPE
23 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
946 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
74 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
87 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
79 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Auburn Univ. (Am (AUB), 9 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
12:55 UTC49.82440° 0 kt1015.6
13:55 UTC50.7244.24170° 4 kt1014.9
14:55 UTC50.5444170° 5 kt1014.6
15:55 UTC50.3644.24160° 5 kt1014.2

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

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
13:10 UTCTORNADO 15 N Auburn UniversityLee, ALTORNADO TOUCHED DOWN BRIEFLY NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF HWY 280W AND LEE CO RD 147N. PATH APPROXIMATELY ONE QUARTER MILE LONG AND 100 YARDS WIDE. HEAVY STEEL FRAME ROOF PEELED OFF ONE BUILDING CAUSING MAJOR DAMAGE. ONE CAR
13:25 UTCTORNADO 24 Wnw BleeckerLee, ALTORNADO TOUCHED DOWN JUST WEST OF THE COMMUNITY OF SALEM ALABAMA ON LEE CO RD 145. PATH APPROXIMATELY 8.3 MILES LONG AND 500 YARDS WIDE. FIFTY HOMES WERE DESTROYED OR RECEIVED MAJOR DAMAGE. HUNDREDS OF TREES WERE EITHER
13:40 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDTallasseeTallapoosa, ALFUNNEL CLOUD REPORTED IN TALLASSEE RELAYED FROM FIRE DEPARTMENT.
13:40 UTCTORNADO 05 Nne MilsteadTallapoosa, ALTORNADO TOUCHED NEAR COUNTY ROAD 51 IN FAR SOUTHERN TALLAPOOSA COUNTY. SMALL TREES AND POWER LINES WERE BLOWN DOWN AND A FIRE WAS REPORTED. 2 OUTBUILDINGS WERE DESTROYED AND SOME SHINGLE DAMAGE TO HOMES. APPROXIMATELY ON
13:43 UTCTORNADOTallasseeTallapoosa, ALTORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR THE REEVES AIRPORT AND COUNTY ROAD 51 IN FAR SOUTHERN TALLAPOOSA COUNTY.
14:10 UTCTORNADO3 Nw OpelikaLee, ALA FEW VEHICLES WERE OVERTURNED NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF HIGHWAY 280 AND HIGHWAY 147.
14:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGSmiths StationLee, ALDAMAGE TO SMITHS STATION JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL. AIR CONDITIONERS AT THE ROOF OF THE SCHOOL WERE BLOWN AWAY. TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ACROSS THE CITY. A.D. MCLEIN HISTORIC RAIL ROAD MUSEUM DAMAGED. POSSIBLE TORNADO.
14:31 UTCHAIL 0.252 Ne NotasulgaLee, ALPEA SIZE HAIL ALONG COUNTY ROAD 14 IN WESTERN LEE COUNTY.
14:32 UTCTORNADO5 Wnw BleeckerLee, ALSEVERAL HOMES DAMAGED WITH PEOPLE TRAPPED INSIDE. TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN. LOCATION NEAR SALEM ON HIGHWAY 280 NEAR LEE ROAD 254.

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 February 28, 2009

2 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 287:40 AM CSTEF0Tallapoosa, AL0.3100$10,000
February 288:25 AM CSTEF2Lee, AL8.35003$1.1 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.