Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2010

EF0 tornado, Hatchett, Alabama, November 30, 2010

This EF0 tornado ran 1.7 miles across Clay County on November 30, 2010, touching down at 10:14 AM CST and reaching 40 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $15,000 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 mphthis tornado

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    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
EF0
Date
November 30, 2010
Touchdown
10:14 AM CST (16:14 UTC)
Lifted
10:16 AM CST (16:16 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
1.7 miles (2.7 km)
Path width
40 yards (37 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$15,000
County
Clay County
Touchdown point
33.112, -86.066
Lift-off point
33.125, -86.042
Record number
1011301014-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A powerful late fall storm system, and associated cold frontal passage through Alabama, brought widespread thunderstorms to the state. Some of the storms in Central Alabama produced damaging winds and tornadoes.

The tornado touched down about 4.5 miles east of Hollins, near the Brownsville Community, just south of Chapman Road on Brownsville Loop Road. Much of the damage path was very minor and consisted of tree limb damage. The most significant damage occurred along CR-7 just north of Partridge Creek Road. Several trees were either uprooted or snapped off in this area. One vehicle suffered moderate damage due to a fallen tree. The tornado lifted just after it crossed CR-7.

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

The warnings

1 minute of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 16:13 UTC, 1 minute before the tornado touched down, in force until 16:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 09:49 UTC and running to 18:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
09:49 UTC18:00 UTCTornado WatchBMX
14:27 UTC15:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMX
15:16 UTC16:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMX
15:45 UTC16:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMX
16:13 UTC16:45 UTCTornado WarningBMX
16:27 UTC17:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm 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 12:41 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

4.2 hours before the tornado, 68 km from the path. November 30, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2010-11-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 444 joules per kilogram, CIN -1, lifted condensation level 484 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2010-11-30The 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 385 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 58 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
444 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Surface CAPE
137 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
484 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
385 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
473 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
4.2
0-3 km lapse rate
5.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 00:00Z

7.8 hours after it, 68 km from the path. December 1, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2010-12-01Temperature 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 -74464, lifted condensation level 514 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2010-12-01The 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 -355 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 91 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-74464 J/kg
Surface CAPE
10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
514 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
91 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-355 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-282 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
2.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 16:13 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
14:53 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Se ShelbyShelby, ALA FEW TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN NEAR COUNTY ROAD 47 AND WAXAHATCHEE ROAD.
14:54 UTCTSTM WND DMGChelseaShelby, ALTREES AND POWER LINES DOWN AT JUNCTIONS OF CHELSEA RD AT LIBERTY ROAD AND MEADOW LAKE LANE.
15:15 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Sw Talladega SuperspeTalladega, ALWIND BLEW CARS OFF THE ROAD ALONG AL HWY 77N. ALSO TWISTED ROAD SIGNS.
15:20 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Sw Talladega SuperspeTalladega, ALWIND BLEW CARS OFF THE ROAD ALONG AL HWY 77N. ALSO TWISTED ROAD SIGNS.
15:22 UTCNON-TSTM WND DMG2 S SylacaugaTalladega, ALVOLUNTEER FIRE REPORTED A LARGE TREE DOWN BLOCKING THE ROADWAY ON ROCK HOUSE ROAD AND OLD TREMMEL ROAD.
15:33 UTCTSTM WND GST 46OxfordCalhoun, ALHAM WEATHER STATION ON MUDD STREET RECORDED 46 MPH WINDS.
16:14 UTCTORNADO 05 Nnw GoodwaterClay, ALA WEAK TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN APPROXIMATELY 4.5 MILES EAST OF HOLLINS NEAR THE BROWNSVILLE COMMUNITY. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE OCCURRED ALONG COUNTY ROAD 7 NORTH OF PARTRIDGE CREEK ROAD. SEVERAL TREES WERE EITHER UPROOT
16:15 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 N GoodwaterClay, ALSEVERAL TREES DOWN ON BROWNSVILLE LOOP NEAR HATCHETT CREEK.
16:23 UTCTORNADO 0DexterElmore, ALSEVERAL TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN OR WERE UPROOTED ALONG THE PATH. A FEW HOMES SUFFERED MINOR ROOF DAMAGE AND OUTBUILDINGS WERE DAMAGED.
16:26 UTCTSTM WND DMGDexterElmore, ALMINOR ROOF DAMAGE AND SIDING DAMAGE TO A HOME.
16:35 UTCTORNADODexterElmore, ALTORNADO TOUCHDOWN REPORTED. SEVERAL TREES DOWN INCLUDING ONE IN THE 2500 BLOCK OF DEXTER ROAD. MINOR ROOF DAMAGE TO A HOME ON MOUNT ZION ROAD AND CR-49.
16:45 UTCTSTM WND DMGEclecticElmore, ALA LARGE TREE LIMB BROKE OFF AND HEAVILY DAMAGED A VEHICLE.

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 November 30, 2010

15 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 3012:38 AM CSTEF0Saint Landry Parish, LA1.025$5,000
November 3012:46 AM CSTEF0Saint Landry Parish, LA1.325$5,000
November 301:41 AM CSTEF1Lamar, AL1.4150$145,000
November 302:44 AM CSTEF2Smith, MS11.0600$900,000
November 302:50 AM CSTEF0Amite, MS4.825$5,000
November 304:15 AM CSTEF1Perry, AL0.150$25,000
November 305:50 AM CSTEF0Jones, MS7.030$70,000
November 307:09 AM CSTEF1Blount, AL1.7150$26,000
November 307:40 AM CSTEF0Hancock, MS0.125$1,000
November 309:57 AM CSTEF1Autauga, AL5.8150$58,000
November 3010:23 AM CSTEF0Elmore, AL6.7100$35,000
November 303:38 PM ESTEF2Gwinnett, GA2.1100$5.0 million
November 304:12 PM ESTEF0Butts, GA2.750$256,000
November 307:45 PM ESTEF1Pickens, SC2.7125$1.5 million
November 309:39 PM ESTEF1Laurens, SC2.0200$50,000

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.