Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2011

EF0 tornado, Wills Crossroads to Abbeville, Alabama, February 1, 2011

From Wills Crossroads to Abbeville, this EF0 tornado ran 1.6 miles across Henry County on February 1, 2011, touching down at 8:06 PM CST and reaching 40 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $150,000 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
February 1, 2011
Touchdown
8:06 PM CST (02:06 UTC)
Lifted
8:10 PM CST (02:10 UTC)
On the ground
4 minutes
Path length
1.6 miles (2.6 km)
Path width
40 yards (37 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$150,000
County
Henry County
Touchdown point
31.552, -85.190
Lift-off point
31.560, -85.165
Record number
1102012006-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A line of thunderstorms associated with a strong cold front moved through the area. A few storms were severe and produced straight line wind damage as well as a brief EF0 tornado.

Although much of the damage in Henry county was consistent with straight line winds associated with a line of thunderstorms, a small segment was determined to be associated with an EF0 tornado. This tornado began about one mile southwest of the intersection of Alabama State Highway 10 and County Road 57. The tornado continued intermittently for around 2 miles and ended to the north of Alabama State Highway 10 about 5 miles east of Abbeville. Damage with this tornado was limited primarily to numerous downed trees and roof damage to barns and outbuildings. This is consistent with DI 1 (Damage Indicator) and DOD 1 and 2 (Degree of Damage) on the EF (Enhanced Fujita) scale. The damage to personal property was estimated to be around $95,000 according to the Emergency Manager with total damage expected to exceed $150,000 including utility restoration. No injuries were reported.

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 tornado watch, issued at 00:20 UTC and running to 05:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
00:20 UTC05:00 UTCTornado WatchTAE
01:45 UTC02:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAE

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 01:00 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.

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), 00:00Z

2.1 hours before the tornado, 153 km from the path. February 2, 2011.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 00:00Z on 2011-02-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 64 joules per kilogram, CIN -20, lifted condensation level 453 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 00:00Z on 2011-02-02The 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 326 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 71 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
64 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-20 J/kg
Surface CAPE
16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
453 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
71 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
326 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
355 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), 12:00Z

9.9 hours after it, 153 km from the path. February 2, 2011.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2011-02-02Temperature 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 -71218, lifted condensation level 875 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2011-02-02The 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 -38 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 66 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-71218 J/kg
Surface CAPE
9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
875 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-38 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8
0-3 km lapse rate
4.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Blakely (BIJ), 32 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
00:22 UTC66.264.4170° 7 kt1011.2-RA
00:39 UTC66.266.2170° 7 kt151011.2DZ
00:59 UTC66.2170° 6 kt141011.2+RA
01:20 UTC66.2190° 11 kt161011.2-RA
01:39 UTC66.2200° 11 kt161011.2
01:59 UTC66.2190° 12 kt171011.9VCTS
02:19 UTC66.2200° 11 kt201012.2VCTS
02:39 UTC66.2210° 11 kt181012.5TS
02:59 UTC66.2280° 7 kt1012.9VCTSRA
03:20 UTC66.2250° 4 kt1012.2-VCTSRA
03:39 UTC66.2240° 4 kt1012.2-DZ
03:59 UTC66.2 1011.5+RA

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

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
01:59 UTCTSTM WND DMGOzarkDale, ALFEW TREES DOWN, SEVERAL POWER OUTAGES. 46 KT GUST REPORTED AT KDHN AT 908 PM EST.
02:06 UTCTSTM WND DMGAbbevilleHenry, ALSEVERAL TREES DOWN...ONE ON VEHICLE.
02:06 UTCTSTM WND DMGWicksburgHouston, ALTWO TREES REPORTED DOWN ACROSS WESTERN HOUSTON COUNTY. A CAR RAN INTO ONE OF THE DOWNED TREES. MINOR DAMAGE TO ONE GARAGE DOOR. TIME OF DAMAGE ESTIMATED.
02:06 UTCTORNADO 05 E AbbevilleHenry, ALEF-0 TORNADO DAMAGE CONFIRMED EAST OF ABBEVILLE NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF STATE HIGHWAY 10 AND COUNTY ROAD 57. DAMAGE LIMITED PRIMARILY TO TREES AND BARNS. PATH WIDTH OF 40 YARDS AND AN INTERMITTENT LENGTH OF 2 MILES. MAX

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

This ground now

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

The other tornadoes of February 1, 2011

2 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 16:10 AM CSTEF1Rusk, TX0.6100$60,000
February 18:24 AM CSTEF0Sabine Parish, LA6.050$1,000

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.