EF1 tornado, Deatsville to Alexander City, Alabama, December 22, 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 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.

Rating

EF1

Date

December 22, 2011

Touchdown

2:24 PM CST (20:24 UTC)

Lifted

2:53 PM CST (20:53 UTC)

On the ground

29 minutes

Path length

24.9 miles (40.1 km)

Path width

300 yards (274 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$85,000

Counties

Elmore, Coosa and Tallapoosa counties

Touchdown point

32.744, -86.300

Lift-off point

32.990, -85.992

Record number

1112221424-01

19 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS BMX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 100 mph.

• few trees down. isolated. interstection of CR29 and law rd
• sporadic small trees snapped and large branches broken. 50 total. start point for damage. no pictures grays ferry rd in elmor co
• large open medal building destroyed and large 100 year old oak uprooted. width 100 yards. on CR89 near HWY280 in kellyton
• several branches broken. 50 yards wide. End Point of Elmore/Coosa/Tallapoosa EF-1 Tornado - December 22, 2011.

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

In response to a strong upper level shortwave, a surface low developed over the northwestern Gulf of Mexico and rode along a previously stalled front across northwest Central Alabama, Thursday, December 22, 2011. Much of Central Alabama resided in an unseasonably warm airmass, with dewpoints near 70 degrees and CAPE over 1000 J/kg. As the surface low passed over northwest Central Alabama and low level winds backed, helicity increased. Rotating supercells within several thunderstorm complexes produced six tornadoes and isolated wind damage.

A tornado initially touched down along County Road 57, just south of County Road 49 in Autauga County. It moved to the northeast causing damage to a mobile home and tree damage. It crossed the Elmore County line and continued its northeastward progression. A few trees were snapped or uprooted and large branches were downed as well. The tornado eventually lifted along Tram Road.

A tornado initially touched down along Grey Ferry Road in Elmore County. It moved northeast snapping approximately 50 trees along the path. It crossed into Coosa County and caused EF-1 rated damage and then crossed into Tallapoosa County, eventually lifting along Hix in Tallapoosa County.

A tornado initially touched down along Grey Ferry Road in Elmore County, where it caused tree damage. It then crossed into Coosa County, approximately one quarter of a mile east of County Road 31. The tornado continued on an northeastward path snapping and uprooting hundreds of trees. The most extensive damage occurred on County Road 89 near Highway 280, where a large metal building was destroyed. The tornado moved into Tallapoosa County and lifted along Hix Road.

A tornado initially touched down along Grey Ferry Road in Elmore County, where it caused tree damage. It moved northeastward and crossed into Coosa County, where extensive tree damage and structure damage occurred. Continuing on a northeastward path, the tornado crossed into Tallapoosa County just south of Sasser road. A few trees were snapped or uprooted along this section of the path. The tornado eventually lifted along Hix Road.

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

25 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:59 UTC, 25 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:37 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 16:00 UTC and running to 22:10 UTC.

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 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 19:51 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 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.

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

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

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

12 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.