EF4 Tuscaloosa–Birmingham tornado, Alabama, April 27, 2011

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 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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF4

Date

April 27, 2011

Touchdown

4:43 PM CDT (21:43 UTC)

Lifted

6:14 PM CDT (23:14 UTC)

On the ground

91 minutes

Path length

80.7 miles (129.8 km)

Path width

2,600 yards (2377 m)

Deaths

64

Injuries

1500

Property damage

$2.2 billion

Counties

Greene, Tuscaloosa and Jefferson counties

Touchdown point

33.030, -87.935

Lift-off point

33.631, -86.744

Record number

1104271543-01

250 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS BMX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF4. The highest wind the damage implies is 190 mph.

• .Numerous large trees uprooted and snapped
• Lots of trees snapped as tornado crossed US-280.
• .Apparent beginning point of Cahaba Heights tornado. A few twigs broken, and a couple large trees uprooted.
• .Nearly all trees in this area were snapped off or uprooted. Many of them landed on houses, causing extensive damage.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

A powerful storm system crossed the Southeast United States on Wednesday, April 27, 2011, resulting in a large and deadly tornado outbreak. This epic event broke the record for number of tornadoes in a day for the state of Alabama, becoming the most significant tornado outbreak in the state���s history. ||Central Alabama had two rounds of severe weather that day. During the early morning hours, a Quasi-Linear Convective System quickly moved across the northern half of the National Weather Service, Birmingham county warning area. Straight line winds of 90 mph (78kts) or greater and 11 tornadoes lead to widespread damage and power outages. During the afternoon, long-lived supercell thunderstorms produced long-track, strong and violent tornadoes. Destruction and loss of life across many towns and communities was devastating. ||The hardest hit areas included Shottsville and Hackleburg, both in Marion County, where winds of 160 mph and 210 mph respectively, caused unimagineable damage. Cordova, in Walker County, was hit twice; by a tornado along the Quasi-Linear Convective System during the early morning hours and again in the afternoon by a long-track EF4 tornado. A long track tornado moved across the city of Tuscaloosa and the western suburbs of Birmingham, resulting in the complete destruction of whole neighborhoods and numerous injuries and fatalities in those heavily populated areas. The same parent supercell produced another violent tornado in east Central Alabama as it tracked across St. Clair and Calhoun Counties, resulting in additional fatalities and incredible damage to a number of neighborhoods. Another violent EF4 tornado tracked across portions of Elmore and Tallapoosa Counties, including Lake Martin, destroying numerous homes and a large section of a mobile home park. ||Most of the violent tornadoes from this day were captured on video by a number of people, including storm spotters and chasers, as well as numerous television news crews and remotely controlled web-enabled video cameras. This allowed unprecedented coverage and viewing of this historic event in real time from people worldwide.

This tornado initially touched down in rural northern Greene County and moved northeast through southern Tuscaloosa and western Jefferson Counties, causing devastating damage consistent with a violent EF4 rating to portions of the city of Tuscaloosa and western suburbs of Birmingham, before it lifted northeast of downtown Birmingham. The tornado entered Tuscaloosa County just north of CR 60, west northwest of Ralph, and moved northeast causing tree damage and minor structural damage consistent with an EF2 rating and winds of 125 mph. The tornado strengthened as it crossed the Black Warrior River, north of Interstate 20 and approached Tuscaloosa. As the tornado approached Interstate 359, several buildings were destroyed including the Tuscaloosa County Emergency Operations Center. The tornado strengthened further to a violent EF4 with winds of 190 mph. Along 15th St E. and McFarland Blvd E., several small restaurants and stores were destroyed, with only a wall or two still standing. The tornado devastated the Cedar Crest neighborhood just north of 15th St, leveling many cinder block homes and causing at least 3 fatalities. The tornado crossed McFarland Blvd, destroying additional stores and restaurants. The tornado crossed University Blvd in the Alberta City community. Alberta Elementary School suffered nearly complete destruction, with only a few portions of walls still standing. A nearby two story apartment building was reduced to rubble sitting on the foundation. The Alberta Park Shopping Center was completely destroyed with no walls standing and a pile of debris on the foundation. Cinder block construction homes in the surrounding neighborhood were completely destroyed, and in a few cases debris was swept away from the site. The tornado continued northeast and struck the Chastain Manor Apartments at the north end of 34th Ave E. Buildings on the east side of this new 2 story apartment complex were completely destroyed, with only a pile of debris remaining and a few walls set into the hillside. A small club house that was anchored to a foundation, but with apparently no interior walls, was completely destroyed and swept from its foundation. Similar devastation to homes and businesses was noted along both sides of CR 45 near 1st St E. and locations to the northeastward. East of Holt, the tornado path width widened from 0.5 mile to around 1 mile. The tornado crossed Holt Peterson Rd just northwest of Clinker Rd, where two homes were completely destroyed. One home on a foundation was swept clean, with only floor joists remaining attached to the foundation. Almost all trees were blown down or snapped in the vicinity, as well as in the bottom of a narrow ravine nearly 100 feet below the house. The tornado continued to Holt Lock and Dam Road near its intersection with Recreation Area Road. Numerous mobile homes and several cinder block homes were destroyed in this area, which resulted in several fatalities. The tornado struck a marina on Holt Lake at the end of Recreation Area Road where it caused significant damage to a restaurant as well as numerous boats. Several injuries were noted in this area. The tornado continued northeastward and weakened to an EF3 rating with winds of 130 mph. As its path narrowed to 0.5 mile, the tornado passed north of Brookwood, near the intersection of Hannah Creek Rd and CR 59. Several mobile homes were destroyed, cinder block homes received heavy damage, and significant tree damage was noted in this area. The tornado moved parallel to Hannah Creek Rd where it caused extensive tree damage and destroyed at least one mobile home. The tornado crossed CR 99 and moved into western Jefferson County, 4 miles north of Abernant. A person died (indirect) several weeks after the event as a result of contracting pneumonia from exposure to the elements after his home was destroyed. An additional 6 people died (indirect) in the months following the tornado from the stress of the event, not direct injury.||This tornado was produced by a supercell thunderstorm that began in Newton County Mississippi at 13:54 pm CST, finally dissipating in Macon County, North Carolina at approximately 21:18 pm CST. This supercell spawned several strong to violent tornadoes along its long path.

This tornado initially touched down in rural northern Greene County and moved northeast through southern Tuscaloosa and western Jefferson Counties. The tornado caused devastating damage consistent with a violent EF4 rating to portions of the city of Tuscaloosa and western suburbs of Birmingham and then lifted northeast of downtown Birmingham. The tornado entered western Jefferson County 5.5 miles west of North Johns. The tornado continued to cause significant tree damage as it crossed Sealy Ann Mountain Rd and CR 23. As the tornado crossed Valley Creek and the far northern portion of Virginia, several homes sustained minor damage. The tornado strengthened to a violent EF4 rating with winds of 190 mph as it approached Concord. Several retail stores were destroyed along CR 46 and only piles of debris were left on their foundations. Several cinder block homes were completely destroyed with debris swept away. In addition, numerous other homes in the area were destroyed with only a few interior walls left standing. At least five fatalities occurred in Concord. The violent tornado continued northeastward toward Pleasant Grove, where extensive damage occurred across western and northern parts of town. Numerous homes were destroyed and foundations swept clean of debris. Several vehicles were picked up and tossed 15 yds. At least 11 fatalities occurred in Pleasant Grove. The tornado quickly moved into McDonald Chapel, near the intersection of CR 80 and Vicksburg St, killing one person. The tornado weakened to an EF2 with winds of 125 mph, but still damaged many homes and destroyed several others. The tornado moved through the Smithfield Estates area where it caused significant damage along Cherry Ave between Daniel Payne Dr and US Hwy 78 and resulted in one fatality. Numerous homes and a 2-story apartment complex sustained significant damage, consistent with an EF2 rating. As the tornado moved northeast, it crossed Interstate 65 near mile marker 266 and into the city of Fultondale. The path width increased to around 1.5 miles. Hundreds of trees were downed along the interstate and several light poles were folded over. Several buildings along US Hwy 31 sustained significant roof and structural damage. The tornado continued northeast where it crossed CR 124, and lifted just west of AL Hwy 79, 4 miles north of Tarrant. ||This tornado was produced by a supercell thunderstorm that began in Newton county Mississippi at 13:54 pm CST, finally dissipating in Macon county, North Carolina at approximately 21:18 pm CST. This supercell spawned several strong to violent tornadoes along its long path, including another violent EF4 tornado that crossed portions of east Central Alabama.

The deaths

64 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

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

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a High Risk, with a 0.45 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 19:12 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.

NWS Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Apr 27, 3:47 PM CDT, 56 minutes earlier.

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
347 PM CDT WED APR 27 2011

...SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK ONGOING...

.DISCUSSION...

A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION IS CURRENTLY UNFOLDING ACROSS CENTRAL
ALABAMA...AND SUPERCELLS HAVE ERUPTED ACROSS THE NORTHERN AND
WESTERN SECTIONS OF THE CWA THIS AFTERNOON. A FEW TORNADOES HAVE
ALREADY TOUCHED DOWN...AND REPORTS OF MAJOR DAMAGE ARE STARTING TO
COME IN. THE 18Z SPECIAL SOUNDING THAT WAS PERFORMED PRESENTS A
DESTRUCTIVE SETUP...WITH 2700J/KG OF CAPE...EXTREMELY STEEP LAPSE
RATES...AND DRY AIR ALOFT. 0-3 KM HELICITY VALUES ARE ALMOST 700.
THE PARAMETERS WILL ONLY WORSEN AS WE GO THROUGHOUT THE REST OF
THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE TIME FRAME FOR THE WORST SEVERE
WEATHER WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE EARLY AFTERNOON HOURS FOR
NORTHWEST SECTIONS OF THE STATE...ROUGHLY FROM 2PM TO
8PM...CENTRAL PORTIONS OF THE STATE...INCLUDING THE BIRMINGHAM
METRO AREA...FROM 4PM TO 10PM...AND THE SOUTHEAST SECTIONS FROM
6PM TO 2AM. I CANNOT STRESS HOW SERIOUS THIS SITUATION IS. DO
WHATEVER YOU CAN TO PROTECT YOUR LIFE AND PROPERTY NOW...YOUR LIFE
MAY DEPEND ON IT! ALL WEATHER WILL CLEAR THE AREA AFTER 6Z
TONIGHT...SO THE CLEANUP PROCESS CAN BEGIN.

56/GOGGINS

&&

.AVIATION...18Z TAF DISCUSSION.

VERY DIFFICULT FORECAST FOR AVIATION THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...AS
CONFIDENCE IS LOW ON THE EXACT TIMING OF THUNDERSTORMS TO INITIALLY
DEVELOP ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA. GENERALLY SPEAKING...WE ARE
EXPECTING AT LEAST VCTS FOR ALL SITES FROM 21Z TO 23Z AREAWIDE.
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP...FIRST AS SCATTERED TORNADIC
SUPERCELLS...THEN CONSOLIDATING INTO A SQUALL LINE LATER THIS
EVENING. AMENDMENTS WILL BE MADE AFTER STORMS INITIALLY DEVELOP
THIS AFTERNOON. AT THE MOMENT...HAVE INCLUDED THE PASSAGE OF THE
SQUALL LINE IN THE TAF FOR ALL LOCATIONS WITH +TSRA AND 1SM. WINDS
WILL CONTINUE TO BE VERY GUSTY FROM THE SOUTH AHEAD OF THE COLD
FRONT THROUGHOUT THE DAY TODAY...WITH GUSTS UP TO 35KTS POSSIBLE.
WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE NORTHWEST LATE TONIGHT AND INTO THE
MORNING HOURS ON THURSDAY.

NOTICE...KEET TAF WILL HAVE (AMD LTD TO VIS WIND AND WX) AMENDED TO
THE END OF THE FORECAST UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. THE CEILOMETER DATA
WILL BE GOING THROUGH NUMEROUS TESTS AND MONITORED FOR ACCURACY.

56

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
GADSDEN     79  57  69  47  74 /  70  80  10   0   0
ANNISTON    82  60  73  50  78 /  60 100  10   0   0
BIRMINGHAM  79  55  75  52  77 /  80  60  10   0   0
TUSCALOOSA  79  55  76  51  79 / 100  50  10   0   0
CALERA      81  57  74  51  77 /  70  70  10   0   0
AUBURN      82  60  73  53  75 /  50 100  10   0   0
MONTGOMERY  84  61  79  52  81 /  60  80  10   0   0
TROY        85  62  76  51  81 /  50  80  10   0   0

&&

.BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT TONIGHT FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES: AUTAUGA...BARBOUR...BIBB...BLOUNT...BULLOCK...
CALHOUN...CHAMBERS...CHEROKEE...CHILTON...CLAY...CLEBURNE...
COOSA...DALLAS...ELMORE...ETOWAH...FAYETTE...GREENE...HALE...
JEFFERSON...LAMAR...LEE...LOWNDES...MACON...MARENGO...MARION...
MONTGOMERY...PERRY...PICKENS...PIKE...RANDOLPH...RUSSELL...
SHELBY...ST. CLAIR...SUMTER...TALLADEGA...TALLAPOOSA...
TUSCALOOSA...WALKER...WINSTON.

FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT TONIGHT FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES: FAYETTE...LAMAR...MARION...WALKER...WINSTON.

&&

56

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
127 PM CDT WED APR 27 2011

ALZ011>015-017>050-281828-
AUTAUGA-BARBOUR-BIBB-BLOUNT-BULLOCK-CALHOUN-CHAMBERS-CHEROKEE-
CHILTON-CLAY-CLEBURNE-COOSA-DALLAS-ELMORE-ETOWAH-FAYETTE-GREENE-HALE-
JEFFERSON-LAMAR-LEE-LOWNDES-MACON-MARENGO-MARION-MONTGOMERY-PERRY-
PICKENS-PIKE-RANDOLPH-RUSSELL-SHELBY-ST CLAIR-SUMTER-TALLADEGA-
TALLAPOOSA-TUSCALOOSA-WALKER-WINSTON-
127 PM CDT WED APR 27 2011

...TORNADO OUTBREAK LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

A SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK IS LIKELY TODAY FOR ALL OF CENTRAL
ALABAMA. STRONG...LONG LIVED TORNADOES...DAMAGING WINDS...AND
VERY LARGE HAIL ARE ALL POSSIBLE.  TORNADIC SUPERCELLS ARE EXPECTED
TO BEGIN DEVELOPING ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI-ALABAMA STATE LINE BETWEEN
2 AND 3 PM...AND THIS THREAT WILL GRADUALLY SHIFT EASTWARD THROUGH
THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS...POTENTIALLY REACHING THE INTERSTATE
65 CORRIDOR BETWEEN 4 AND 6 PM. CURRENT THINKING IS A LINE OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP LATE THIS EVENING AND TRAVERSE THE
EASTERN HALF OF THE BIRMINGHAM COUNTY WARNING AREA...EXITING INTO
GEORGIA BY 6 AM...AFFECTIVELY ENDING THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FOR
CENTRAL ALABAMA.

THIS IS POTENTIALLY A VERY DANGEROUS SCENARIO FOR ANYONE IN
CENTRAL ALABAMA.  NOW IS THE TIME TO REVIEW YOUR SEVERE WEATHER
ACTION PLAN AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE QUICK ACTION WHEN WATCHES AND
WARNINGS ARE EVENTUALLY ISSUED.

LOCALIZED TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IS ALSO POSSIBLE THROUGH TONIGHT.
A FEW INCHES OF RAINFALL MAY OCCUR IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.
ADDITIONALLY...MORE THAN ONE STORM MAY AFFECT THE SAME AREA. THIS
MAY PRODUCE SOME LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING.

EVEN OUTSIDE OF THUNDERSTORM AREAS...STRONG GRADIENT WINDS ARE ALSO
EXPECTED. SUSTAINED WINDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH ALONG WITH HIGHER GUSTS
UP TO 35 MPH ARE EXPECTED.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY.

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT WILL BE NEEDED
THROUGH TONIGHT DUE TO THE TORNADO THREAT.

27

In the hours before

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PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
434 PM CDT WED APR 27 2011

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0420 PM     TORNADO          N GEIGER                32.87N 88.31W
04/27/2011                   SUMTER             AL   FIRE DEPT/RESCUE

            DAMAGE PATH REPORTED JUST NORTH OF GEIGER. EMERGENCY
            RESPONDERS ENROUTE.

&&

JT

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
438 PM CDT WED APR 27 2011

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0433 PM     TORNADO          3 NW CLINTON            32.94N 88.03W
04/27/2011                   GREENE             AL   TRAINED SPOTTER

            SPOTTER REPORTS TORNADO ON THE GROUND NEAR THE COMMUNITY
            OF WEST GREENE.

&&

DS

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
442 PM CDT WED APR 27 2011

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0420 PM     TORNADO          1 E MOORES BRIDGE       33.45N 87.78W
04/27/2011                   TUSCALOOSA         AL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            DAMAGE IN THE OLD MOORES BRIDGE AREA.

&&

DS

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.

Tuscaloosa Municipal (TCL), 29 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 56 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:43 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.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2011 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

209 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 210 of them

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.