Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2009

EF1 tornado, Masterson Mill, Alabama, June 14, 2009

This EF1 tornado ran 0.8 miles across Lawrence County on June 14, 2009, touching down at 10:25 AM CDT and reaching 150 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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
June 14, 2009
Touchdown
10:25 AM CDT (15:25 UTC)
Lifted
10:30 AM CDT (15:30 UTC)
On the ground
5 minutes
Path length
0.8 miles (1.2 km)
Path width
150 yards (137 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Lawrence County
Touchdown point
34.516, -87.317
Lift-off point
34.511, -87.305
Record number
0906140925-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A cluster of severe thunderstorms intensified near the Memphis, Tennessee metropolitan area just after 7:00 AM CDT on the 14th. A bow echo developed with this cluster of storms and accelerated east-southeast across northern Mississippi and into northwest Alabama between 10:00 AM and 11:30 AM CDT. A brief EF-1 tornado occurred northwest of Moulton in Lawrence county. Numerous trees and some power lines were knocked down with straight-line winds. One report of brief flash flooding occurred in the town of Barton.

A tornado touched down just north of CR 165 and significantly damaged a barn and destroyed a chicken house in the area. The tornado then moved east southeast damaging another barn and causing minor damage to a house. A shed was completely destroyed near the house. In addition, the tornado snapped and uprooted a large number of hardwood trees. Numerous large oak and hickory trees were snapped off, some near the base. The tornado finally lifted south of CR 165.

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 severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 13:50 UTC and running to 16:22 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
07:35 UTC14:00 UTCDense Fog AdvisoryHUN
13:50 UTC16:22 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchHUN
15:17 UTC16:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUN
15:51 UTC16:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUN

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. The outlook in force was issued at 12:24 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), 12:00Z

3.4 hours before the tornado, 156 km from the path. June 14, 2009.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2009-06-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2687 joules per kilogram, CIN -8, lifted condensation level 496 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 2009-06-14The 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 57 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 24 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
2687 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Surface CAPE
582 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
496 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
89 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.9
0-3 km lapse rate
4.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 00:00Z

8.6 hours after it, 156 km from the path. June 15, 2009.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2009-06-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 187 joules per kilogram, CIN -168, lifted condensation level 1266 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 2009-06-15The 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 114 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 30 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
187 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-168 J/kg
Surface CAPE
369 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1266 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
114 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
188 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1
0-3 km lapse rate
5.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Muscle Shoals Regional (MSL), 37 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
13:53 UTC7571130° 3 kt1016.9-RA BR
14:46 UTC73.471.6100° 3 kt1016.9VCTS BR
14:53 UTC75710° 0 kt1017.3VCTS BR
15:11 UTC73.469.8290° 34 kt461020.3TSRA BR SQ
15:15 UTC69.866.2280° 26 kt46+TSRA BR SQ
15:23 UTC6864.4300° 12 kt36+TSRA BR
15:25 UTC6864.4300° 15 kt28+TSRA BR
15:35 UTC69.864.4290° 18 kt25+TSRA BR
15:43 UTC69.864.4300° 13 kt23+TSRA BR
15:53 UTC6966310° 12 kt17+TSRA BR
16:04 UTC69.866.2310° 14 kt18TSRA BR
16:22 UTC69.864.4340° 9 kt19RA
16:53 UTC7065100° 9 ktVCTS RA

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

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 116 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 15:26 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
15:15 UTCFLASH FLOODNw Red RockColbert, ALAROUND 8 INCHES OF WATER REPORTED ON THE ROADWAY AT THE INTERSECTION OF HWY 72 AND BARTON ROAD IN THE BARTON COMMUNITY.
15:29 UTCTSTM WND DMGNatural BridgeWinston, ALTREES DOWN ALONG HIGHWAY 278 IN NATURAL BRIDGE.
15:37 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Sw TuscumbiaColbert, ALTREES DOWN ON FRANKFORT ROAD BETWEEN TUSCUMBIA AND CROOKED OAK COMMUNITY.
15:40 UTCTSTM WND DMGDouble SpringsWinston, ALA COUPLE OF TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN IN DOUBLE SPRINGS.
15:45 UTCTSTM WND DMGDelmarWinston, ALTREES AND POWERLINES WERE BLOWN DOWN ALONG COUNTY ROAD 13 IN WESTERN WINSTON COUNTY.
15:45 UTCTSTM WND DMGRussellvilleFranklin, ALTREES DOWN IN THE PEBBLE DISTRICT OF RUSSELLVILLE
15:50 UTCTSTM WND DMGMoultonLawrence, ALTREES AND POWERLINES DOWN IN MOULTON.
15:50 UTCTSTM WND DMGRussellvilleFranklin, ALTREES AND POWERLINES DOWNED THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE COUNTY.
15:50 UTCTSTM WND DMGTown CreekLawrence, ALHOUSE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING AT THE INTERSECTION OF CR 265 AND BLUE HOLLOW ROAD IN TOWN CREEK.
15:50 UTCLIGHTNINGTown CreekLawrence, ALHOUSE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING AT THE INTERSECTION OF CR 265 AND BLUE HOLLOW ROAD IN TOWN CREEK.
16:02 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Nw CullmanCullman, ALA UAH METEOROLOGIST REPORTED THREE LARGE TREES WERE UPROOTED BY THUNDERSTORM WINDS AT THIS LOCATION.
16:02 UTCTSTM WND GST 542 Nnw LoganCullman, ALA UAH METEOROLOGIST REPORTED THUNDERSTORM WINDS WHICH KNOCKED DOWN A FEW TREES WITHIN A 5 MILE RADIUS OF THEIR LOCATION. AN ANEMOMETER MEASURED A 54 MPH WIND GUST AT THIS LOCATION.
16:05 UTCTSTM WND GST 60Jones ChapelCullman, ALTRAINED SPOTTER ESTIMATES WIND GUSTS OF 60 TO 70 MPH IN THE JONES CHAPEL AREA.
16:05 UTCNON-TSTM WND GST 60Jones ChapelCullman, ALTRAINED SPOTTER ESTIMATES WIND GUSTS OF 60 TO 70 MPH IN THE JONES CHAPEL AREA.
16:06 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 N CullmanCullman, ALTREES DOWN IN VINEMONT.
16:06 UTCTSTM WND DMGCullmanCullman, ALTREES DOWN ON INTERSTATE 65 AT LACON MOUNTAIN.
16:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGFalkvilleMorgan, ALTREES DOWNED THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE COUNTY.

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 June 14, 2009

7 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 141:27 PM MDTEF0Platte, WY5.940
June 142:53 PM MDTEF0Hot Springs, WY0.730
June 145:23 PM CDTEF0Haskell, KS3.3125
June 146:45 PM EDTEF1Morgan, KY1.575$35,000
June 145:47 PM CDTEF1Haskell, KS3.7150$250,000
June 145:50 PM CDTEF1Haskell, KS0.675$2,000
June 148:03 PM CDTEF1Comanche, KS3.7100

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.