Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2010
EF1 tornado, Mc Larty, Alabama, April 24, 2010
This EF1 tornado ran 0.9 miles across Blount County on April 24, 2010, touching down at 9:59 PM CDT and reaching 200 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50,000 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.
EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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 24, 2010
- Touchdown
- 9:59 PM CDT (02:59 UTC)
- Lifted
- 10:02 PM CDT (03:02 UTC)
- On the ground
- 3 minutes
- Path length
- 0.9 miles (1.5 km)
- Path width
- 200 yards (183 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $50,000
- County
- Blount County
- Touchdown point
- 34.192, -86.415
- Lift-off point
- 34.195, -86.399
- Record number
- 1004242059-01
What the Weather Service recorded
A deepening storm system and associated cold front brought widespread severe thunderstorms, including at least 8 tornadoes, to central Alabama.
The tornado first touched down about 4 miles northeast of Brooksville, and then tracked northeastward. It was on the ground for less than a mile before moving across the county line into Marshall County, just west of the intersection of Panky Lane and Nixon Chapel Road. Within Blount County, two structures were damaged and hundreds of trees were snapped and uprooted. One mobile home was moved off its foundation and also damaged by fallen trees.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
48 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 02:11 UTC, 48 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 03:00 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 00:15 UTC and running to 06:24 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12:06 UTC | 12:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX |
| 13:07 UTC | 18:19 UTC | Tornado Watch | BMX |
| 13:37 UTC | 14:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX |
| 13:56 UTC | 14:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX |
| 14:00 UTC | 05:00 UTC | Wind Advisory | BMX |
| 18:20 UTC | 00:15 UTC | Tornado Watch | BMX |
| 00:15 UTC | 06:24 UTC | Tornado Watch | BMX |
| 02:11 UTC | 03:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | BMX |
| 03:22 UTC | 04:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | BMX |
| 04:41 UTC | 05:19 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX |
| 17:00 UTC | 22:00 UTC | Wind Advisory | BMX |
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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 01:01 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
3.0 hours before the tornado, 118 km from the path. April 25, 2010.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1231 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -12 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 537 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 483 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 69 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 39 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 415 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 438 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 3.6
- Supercell composite
- 15.1
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.7 K/km
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 12:00Z
9.0 hours after it, 118 km from the path. April 25, 2010.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -66505 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 168 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1290 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 63 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -31 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 174 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.2 K/km
The surface observations
Albertville (BFZ), 15 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01:00 UTC | 69.8 | 68 | 170° 15 kt | 25 | 1002 | |
| 01:20 UTC | 69.8 | 68 | 180° 14 kt | 22 | 1002.4 | |
| 01:40 UTC | 69.8 | 68 | 190° 14 kt | 21 | 1002.7 | |
| 02:00 UTC | 69.8 | 68 | 180° 12 kt | 21 | 1002.7 | |
| 02:20 UTC | 69.8 | 69.8 | 190° 11 kt | 17 | 1003 | |
| 02:40 UTC | 69.8 | 69.8 | 170° 7 kt | 16 | 1002.4 | VCTS |
| 03:00 UTC | 69.8 | 69.8 | 160° 5 kt | 15 | 1001.4 | -TSRA |
| 03:20 UTC | 69.8 | 69.8 | 210° 29 kt | 44 | 1000.3 | -TSRA |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 87 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:00 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:13 UTC | TORNADO 2 | 3 Nw Hanceville | Cullman, AL | AN EF-2 TORNADO FIRST TOUCHED DOWN ON HIGHWAY 31 JUST SOUTH OF THE COUNTY ROAD 601 INTERSECTION. THE TORNADO WAS 300 YARDS WIDE AND 6 MILES LONG. OVER 100 TREES WERE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED AND POWER LINES WERE DOWNED. TWO C |
| 00:13 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Nw Walter | Cullman, AL | TORNADO TOUCHDOWN REPORTED IN WELTI AT THE INTERSECTION OF CR 747 AND 703. |
| 00:16 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Sse Cullman | Cullman, AL | TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ALONG HWY 601 JUST EAST OF HWY 31 BETWEEN HANCEVILLE AND PHELAN. |
| 00:16 UTC | TORNADO | Phelan | Cullman, AL | TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ALONG HWY 601 JUST EAST OF HWY 31 BETWEEN HANCEVILLE AND PHELAN. |
| 00:16 UTC | TORNADO | Phil Campbell | Cullman, AL | TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ALONG HWY 601 JUST EAST OF HWY 31 BETWEEN HANCEVILLE AND PHELAN. |
| 00:17 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Nw Walter | Cullman, AL | CHICKEN HOUSE BLOWN INTO THE ROAD JUST SOUTH OF WELTI ALONG CR 737 AND 639. |
| 00:17 UTC | TORNADO | 4 Nne Hanceville | Cullman, AL | CHICKEN HOUSE BLOWN INTO THE ROAD JUST SOUTH OF WELTI ALONG CR 747 AND 639. |
| 01:49 UTC | NON-TSTM WND DMG | Blountsville | Blount, AL | TREE DOWN BLOCKING THE ROAD AT COUNTY HWY 26 NEAR BRIGHT DRIVE IN BLOUNTSVILLE. |
| 02:59 UTC | TORNADO 1 | 1 Nw Mclarty | Blount, AL | THREE STRUCTURES DAMAGED. ONE MOBILE HOME BLOWN OFF FOUNDATION. ONE BARN DESTROYED. PARTIAL ROOF OFF SINGLE FAMILY HOME. SEVERAL HUNDRED TREES UPROOTED OR SNAPPED. |
| 02:59 UTC | TORNADO 1 | 4 Ne Brooksville | Blount, AL | THREE STRUCTURES DAMAGED. ONE MOBILE HOME BLOWN OFF FOUNDATION. ONE BARN DESTROYED. PARTIAL ROOF OFF SINGLE FAMILY HOME. SEVERAL HUNDRED TREES UPROOTED OR SNAPPED. |
| 03:04 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 6 Nnw Snead | Blount, AL | SEVERAL TREES DOWN AND POWER LINES DOWN. TREE ON STRUCTURE. POSSIBLE TORNADO. |
| 03:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Nnw Douglas | Marshall, AL | POSSIBLE TORNADO DAMAGE IN HYATT WITH ROOF BLOWN OFF HOUSE. |
| 03:25 UTC | TORNADO 3 | Albertville | Marshall, AL | AN EF-3 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN JUST WEST OF DOWNTOWN ALBERTVILLE. MULTIPLE TREES AND POWER LINES WERE DOWNED IN THE CITY. SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO SEVERAL HOMES. BP GAS STATION HAS BEEN DAMAGED ON HWY 431 ALONG WITH A GROCERY |
| 03:25 UTC | TORNADO | Albertville | Marshall, AL | POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR DOWNTOWN ALBERTVILLE. MULTIPLE TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN. REPORTS OF ROOF DAMAGE TO SEVERAL HOMES. BP GAS STATION HAS BEEN DAMAGED ON HWY 431. |
| 03:45 UTC | TORNADO 3 | Geraldine | Dekalb, AL | AN EF-3 TORNADO MOVED ACROSS GERALDINE. SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE WAS REPORTED AROUND GERALDINE HIGH SCHOOL. POWER LINES AND POLES HAVE BEEN DOWNED ACROSS THE CITY. RIDGE CREST APPARTMENT COMPLEX SUSTAINED DAMAGE IN ADDITION TO |
| 03:45 UTC | TORNADO | Geraldine | Dekalb, AL | POSSIBLE TORNADO REPORTED IN GERALDINE. |
| 03:50 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Nw Warrior | Blount, AL | TREES DOWN AND BUILDING DAMAGE. POSSIBLE TORNADO. |
| 03:55 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Sw Hayden | Blount, AL | TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN WITH STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO A RESIDENCE ON ARKADELPHIA ROAD NEAR SKYLINE DRIVE. POSSIBLE TORNADO. |
| 03:55 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Sse Fyffe | Dekalb, AL | POSSIBLE TORNADO REPORTED NEAR PEEKS CORNER. |
| 04:00 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 4 Nw Hanceville | Cullman, AL | ON COUNTY ROAD 678...AN AREA APPROXIMATELY 20 FEET DEEP AND 40 FEET WIDE WAS WASHED AWAY. NATURAL GAS LINES...WATER MAINS...AND PHONE LINES WERE DESTROYED IN THE AREA. |
| 04:42 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Nw Gallant | Etowah, AL | TREE AND POWER LINES DOWN. OTHER TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN IN THE HOKES BLUFF AND WALNUT GROVE AREAS. |
| 05:15 UTC | TORNADO 3 | 5 Ene Collinsville | Dekalb, AL | AN EF-3 TORNADO IMPACTED THE AREAS FROM MOUNT VERNON TO DOG TOWN IN EXTREME SE DEKALB COUNTY. PATH LENGTH WAS 7.3 MILES AND PATH WIDTH WAS 1/2 MILE AT ITS WIDEST POINT. ESTIMATED PEAK WIND 150 MPH. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT D |
| 05:15 UTC | TORNADO 4 | 5 Ene Collinsville | Dekalb, AL | AN EF-4 TORNADO IMPACTED THE AREAS FROM MOUNT VERNON TO DOG TOWN IN EXTREME SE DEKALB COUNTY. PATH LENGTH WAS 7.3 MILES AND PATH WIDTH WAS 1/2 MILE AT ITS WIDEST POINT. ESTIMATED PEAK WIND 170 MPH. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT D |
| 05:15 UTC | TORNADO | 5 Ene Collinsville | Dekalb, AL | TREES DOWN AND HOMES DAMAGED NEAR THE MT VERNON COMMUNITY. |
| 05:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Hokes Bluff | Etowah, AL | TREES DOWN ON POWERLINE ON TROY ROAD. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2010 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of April 24, 2010
38 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 24 | 1:44 AM CDT | EF1 | Kaufman, TX | 0.2 | 30 | $50,000 | ||
| April 24 | 2:31 AM CDT | EF0 | Wood, TX | 4.2 | 100 | 3 | $75,000 | |
| April 24 | 2:45 AM CDT | EF0 | Wood, TX | 1.6 | 70 | $10,000 | ||
| April 24 | 6:57 AM CDT | EF0 | Union Parish, LA | 0.5 | 70 | |||
| April 24 | 8:43 AM CDT | EF1 | Smith, MS | 10.7 | 50 | $40,000 | ||
| April 24 | 9:22 AM CDT | EF2 | Jasper, MS | 22.9 | 1,056 | $1.3 million | ||
| April 24 | 10:44 AM CDT | EF0 | Sumter, AL | 0.1 | 30 | |||
| April 24 | 11:09 AM CDT | EF4 | Yazoo City tornado, Mississippi | 149.0 | 3,080 | 10 | 146 | $386 million |
| April 24 | 11:19 AM CDT | EF1 | Marengo, AL | 8.2 | 200 | 2 | $170,000 | |
| April 24 | 11:20 AM CDT | EF0 | Union, MS | 0.1 | 30 | $25,000 | ||
| April 24 | 11:50 AM CDT | EF0 | Hale, AL | 5.8 | 100 | $60,000 | ||
| April 24 | 12:37 PM CDT | EF0 | Nodaway, MO | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| April 24 | 12:40 PM CDT | EF0 | Nodaway, MO | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| April 24 | 1:40 PM CDT | EF0 | Taney, MO | 0.5 | 70 | $20,000 | ||
| April 24 | 2:05 PM CDT | EF0 | Mississippi, AR | 2.1 | 50 | $3,000 | ||
| April 24 | 2:09 PM CDT | EF2 | Oktibbeha, MS | 7.0 | 800 | $650,000 | ||
| April 24 | 2:28 PM CDT | EF2 | Clay, MS | 1.9 | 300 | $80,000 | ||
| April 24 | 2:40 PM CDT | EF1 | Monroe, MS | 6.5 | 150 | 1 | $350,000 | |
| April 24 | 4:23 PM CDT | EF0 | Christian, KY | 2.0 | 40 | $4,000 | ||
| April 24 | 4:25 PM CDT | EF0 | Saint Louis, MO | 0.6 | 300 | |||
| April 24 | 4:26 PM CDT | EF1 | Decatur, TN | 25.6 | 400 | $1.1 million | ||
| April 24 | 4:27 PM CDT | EF0 | Marion, AL | 7.2 | 200 | $105,000 | ||
| April 24 | 4:30 PM CDT | EF0 | Saint Louis, MO | 4.4 | 325 | |||
| April 24 | 5:40 PM CDT | EF1 | Edmonson, KY | 1.1 | 50 | $30,000 | ||
| April 24 | 6:15 PM CDT | EF1 | Hickman, TN | 1.8 | 100 | $30,000 | ||
| April 24 | 6:57 PM CDT | EF2 | Cullman, AL | 5.8 | 300 | |||
| April 24 | 8:25 PM EDT | EF1 | Mercer, KY | 1.8 | 50 | |||
| April 24 | 7:32 PM CDT | EF1 | Lauderdale, MS | 4.3 | 100 | $450,000 | ||
| April 24 | 7:42 PM CDT | EF0 | Macon, TN | 1.5 | 50 | $16,000 | ||
| April 24 | 8:06 PM CDT | EF1 | Fayette, AL | 6.6 | 200 | $77,000 | ||
| April 24 | 8:21 PM CDT | EF1 | Fayette, AL | 4.6 | 400 | $75,000 | ||
| April 24 | 10:01 PM CDT | EF3 | Walker, AL | 29.6 | 400 | $658,000 | ||
| April 24 | 10:05 PM CDT | EF3 | Marshall, AL | 17.7 | 1,320 | 35 | $14 million | |
| April 24 | 10:35 PM CDT | EF3 | DeKalb, AL | 21.3 | 1,320 | 10 | $3.0 million | |
| April 24 | 11:25 PM CDT | EF3 | DeKalb, AL to GA | 14.3 | 440 | $2.7 million | ||
| April 24 | 12:01 AM CDT | EF4 | Crossville–Collinsville tornado, AL | 16.6 | 880 | 5 | $3.0 million | |
| April 24 | 1:50 AM EDT | EF0 | Monroe, TN | 5.0 | 50 | $25,000 | ||
| April 24 | 1:55 AM EDT | EF1 | Loudon, TN | 8.0 | 100 | $30,000 |
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.