EF1 tornado, Hartford to Slocomb, Alabama, March 1, 2012

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

March 1, 2012

Touchdown

1:14 PM CST (19:14 UTC)

Lifted

1:15 PM CST (19:15 UTC)

On the ground

1 minutes

Path length

0.3 miles (0.5 km)

Path width

30 yards (27 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$5,000

County

Geneva County

Touchdown point

31.081, -85.579

Lift-off point

31.082, -85.574

Record number

1203011314-01

17 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TAE, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 97 mph.

• Several wood poles snapped. However, nearby poorly constructed barn was untouched, thus the lower wind speed.

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

Several subtle upper level shortwaves affected the area during a three day period between March 1-3 as a broad long-wave upper level trough located west of the area slowly progressed eastward. Subtle surface boundaries were also in the area with a relatively warm, moist and unstable airmass in place. Instability values approached 2000 j/kg with low level shear around 30 knots and deep layer shear around 50 knots. Several tornadoes occurred in the National Weather Service Tallahassee forecast area with numerous instances of straight line wind damage, heavy rain, and localized flooding as well.

An NWS storm survey confirmed an EF1 tornado touched down just south of Hartford around 102 pm CST and moved eastward before lifting near the intersection of Cotton Box Road and Davis Mill Road around 114 pm CST. Numerous trees were snapped and uprooted along the path with roof damage to at least three homes and a barn destroyed. Max winds were estimated around 95 mph with a path width around 50 yards. Monetary damage was estimated.

A second EF1 tornado touched down briefly near the intersection of Highway 103 and Tindil Creek Road to the south of the first tornado around 114 pm CST. This tornado traveled east-northeastward around one-third of a mile across Tindil Creek Road before lifting around 115 pm CST. Numerous hardwood and softwood trees were snapped and uprooted along its path. The path width was estimated around 30 yards with maximum winds around 95 mph. Monetary damage was estimated.

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

3 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:11 UTC, 3 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 19:30 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 General Thunderstorms Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:30 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.

Cairns Aaf/Ozark (OZR), 25 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

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 2012 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

2 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.