Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2013
EF1 tornado, Bigbee to Winn, Alabama, February 10, 2013
From Bigbee to Winn, this EF1 tornado ran 14.3 miles across Washington and Clarke counties on February 10, 2013, touching down at 5:00 PM CST and reaching 200 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $60,000 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.
EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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
- EF1
- Date
- February 10, 2013
- Touchdown
- 5:00 PM CST (23:00 UTC)
- Lifted
- 5:19 PM CST (23:19 UTC)
- On the ground
- 19 minutes
- Path length
- 14.3 miles (22.9 km)
- Path width
- 200 yards (183 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $60,000
- Counties
- Washington and Clarke counties
- Touchdown point
- 31.545, -88.158
- Lift-off point
- 31.620, -87.933
- Record number
- 1302101700-01
The damage survey
18 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS MOB, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 108 mph.
- small trees snapped mid trunk or uprooted pointing sw.
- several trees uprooted or snapped laying on convergent pattern.
- Minor damage to roof facia on metal building. Apparent damage due to read flank downdraft in wake of storm.
- Roof of metal barn peeled back. A few trees topped out. On apparent south side of narrow tornado vortex path.
Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.
What the Weather Service recorded
Thunderstorms developed ahead of an approaching cold front. Some of the thunderstorms became severe with damaging winds and tornadoes. The storms also produced very heavy rain which caused flash flooding.
The tornado touched down in a deeply wooded area west of|County Road 34 in eastern Washington county. The tornado quickly|intensified to EF-1 strength as it crossed County Road 34 damaging|the roofs of a few homes and blowing down numerous pine trees. The|tornado continued northeast across the Tombigbee river crossing into|Clarke County.
The tornado touched down in a deeply wooded area west of|County Road 34 in eastern Washington county. The tornado quickly|intensified to EF-1 strength as it crossed County Road 34 damaging|the roofs of a few homes and blowing down numerous pine trees. The|tornado continued northeast across the Tombigbee river crossing into|Clarke County where it produced damage on old lock road to 3 wood|frame homes (blowing one off of its masonry block foundation)...|rolling one single wide mobile home over onto its side...and blowing|another single wide mobile home off of its blocks. The tornado|continued east across highway 69 snapping several pine trees. The|tornado then dissipated in a deeply wooded area east of highway 69|before reaching U.S. Highway 43 north of Jackson. A second brief|tornado formed from this same thunderstorm a short distance farther|southeast near Highway 43 (see Antioch tornado with this event).
This very brief tornado touched down just east of|U.S. Highway 43 north of Jackson near Camp Maubila Road. In this|area the tornado peeled back the roof panels of a metal shed...|snapped several pine trees mid trunk. The tornado paralleled highway|43 for its short life...dissipating in a wooded area just east of|Highway 43.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
10 minutes of warning. NWS MOB issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:50 UTC, 10 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:11 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 21:15 UTC and running to 05:00 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18:00 UTC | 02:54 UTC | Flash Flood Watch | MOB |
| 21:15 UTC | 05:00 UTC | Tornado Watch | MOB |
| 22:45 UTC | 23:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB |
| 22:48 UTC | 23:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB |
| 22:50 UTC | 23:11 UTC | Tornado Warning | MOB |
| 23:17 UTC | 00:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB |
| 23:27 UTC | 00:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | MOB |
| 23:40 UTC | 00:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | MOB |
| 23:55 UTC | 01:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | MOB |
| 00:12 UTC | 06:15 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | MOB |
| 00:40 UTC | 01:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | MOB |
| 01:11 UTC | 02:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | MOB |
| 01:40 UTC | 02:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB |
| 01:45 UTC | 02:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | MOB |
| 02:41 UTC | 03:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB |
| 03:17 UTC | 03:41 UTC | Tornado Warning | MOB |
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 19:26 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 surface observations
Evergreen (GZH), 97 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:28 UTC | 68 | 60.8 | 160° 12 kt | 21 | 1015.9 | VCTS -RA |
| 21:43 UTC | 68 | 60.8 | 160° 13 kt | 1016.3 | -RA | |
| 21:53 UTC | 67 | 61 | 150° 13 kt | 1015.9 | -RA | |
| 22:32 UTC | 66.2 | 62.6 | 160° 12 kt | 1015.9 | VCTS -RA BR | |
| 22:39 UTC | 66.2 | 62.6 | 170° 13 kt | 20 | 1015.9 | VCTS -RA BR |
| 22:53 UTC | 66 | 63 | 170° 14 kt | 20 | 1016.3 | VCTS RA BR |
| 22:59 UTC | 66.2 | 62.6 | 170° 15 kt | 22 | 1015.9 | -RA BR |
| 23:06 UTC | 66.2 | 62.6 | 180° 9 kt | 1016.3 | -RA BR | |
| 23:16 UTC | 66.2 | 62.6 | 170° 13 kt | 1016.6 | -RA | |
| 23:36 UTC | 66.2 | 64.4 | 150° 9 kt | 1016.3 | ||
| 23:53 UTC | 66 | 64 | 150° 11 kt | 1016.3 | VCTS | |
| 00:46 UTC | 68 | 64.4 | 330° 7 kt | 1018.3 | +TSRA BR | |
| 00:53 UTC | 67 | 65 | 0° 0 kt | 1018.3 | +TSRA BR |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Mobile radar (KMOB), 102 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:59 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23:05 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Se Bigbee | Washington, AL | ROOF OF HOMW CO RD 34. 12 X 16 BUILDING DISTROYED |
| 23:10 UTC | TORNADO | 4 Ne Saint Stephrns | Clarke, AL | 4 TO 6 RESIDENCES SUFFERED MAJOR DAMAGE OR WERE DESTROYED ON OLD LOCK ONE ROAD. NO INJURIES REPORTED. |
| 23:27 UTC | TORNADO | 2 S Grove Hill | Clarke, AL | EMERGENCY MANAGER REPORTS DEBRIS ON HIGHWAY 43 NEAR ANTIOCH. LIKELY TORNADO. |
| 23:27 UTC | TORNADO | 4 Se Grove Hill | Clarke, AL | 2 HOMES DAMAGE IN THE ANTIOCH COMMUNITY NEAR HWY 43 AND TODDTOWN ROAD. 2 HOMES DAMAGED ON MAUBILA ROAD. |
| 23:33 UTC | TORNADO | Mays Crossroads | Clarke, AL | |
| 00:00 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | Coffeeville | Clarke, AL | GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL AND TREES DOWN IN COFFEEVILLE. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2013 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of February 10, 2013
7 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 10 | 9:15 AM CST | EF0 | Polk, TX | 0.5 | 30 | 1 | $50,000 | |
| February 10 | 3:39 PM CST | EF1 | Lawrence, MS | 1.6 | 140 | $75,000 | ||
| February 10 | 4:23 PM CST | EF2 | Marion, MS | 18.1 | 400 | 3 | $375,000 | |
| February 10 | 5:03 PM CST | EF4 | Hattiesburg tornado, MS | 21.6 | 1,320 | 71 | $39 million | |
| February 10 | 5:26 PM CST | EF1 | Clarke, AL | 0.9 | 80 | $10,000 | ||
| February 10 | 6:46 PM CST | EF1 | Wayne, MS | 3.1 | 250 | $100,000 | ||
| February 10 | 7:14 PM CST | EF1 | Wayne, MS | 3.1 | 200 | $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.