Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2013

EF2 tornado, Mc Ville to Lands Xrds, Alabama, March 18, 2013

Name: EF2 tornado, Mc Ville to Lands Xrds, Alabama, March 18, 2013
Start: 2013-03-18T20:41:00.000Z
End: 2013-03-18T20:47:00.000Z
Location: Mc Ville to Lands Xrds, Alabama

From Mc Ville to Lands Xrds, this EF2 tornado ran 4.2 miles across Marshall and DeKalb counties on March 18, 2013, touching down at 3:41 PM CDT and reaching 220 yards wide. It killed nobody and injured 7.

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 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 mphthis tornado
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: EF2
Date: March 18, 2013
Touchdown: 3:41 PM CDT (20:41 UTC)
Lifted: 3:47 PM CDT (20:47 UTC)
On the ground: 6 minutes
Path length: 4.2 miles (6.8 km)
Path width: 220 yards (201 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 7
Counties: Marshall and DeKalb counties
Touchdown point: 34.269, -86.133
Lift-off point: 34.269, -86.059
Record number: 1303181441-02

The damage survey

126 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS BMX and NWS HUN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 125 mph.

new power poles already up.
tin/debris from shed thrown across road.
debris field extending from EF-1 damage to barn
picture taken from road, looking south. Damage about 150 yards away.

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

An active severe weather episode was produced by two quasi-linear convective systems. The first developed during the midday hours across middle Tennessee into northwest Alabama, while another which originated as a small convective cluster in central Arkansas rapidly intensified and raced eastward through northern Mississippi into north Alabama during the afternoon hours. Numerous reports of wind damage, large hail and four tornadoes. Two of the tornadoes injured ten people and produced significant damage to mobile homes, trees, and power poles.

A tornado produced EF0 to EF1 damage, with wind speeds up to 100 mph along a path beginning along Hambey Road just east of McVille Road. Several softwood and hardwood trees were either uprooted or snapped along Hambey Road. As the tornado moved east, several wooden power poles were snapped. Several farm buildings were destroyed with debris strewn over 100 yards. Additional tree damage was noted along County Roads 381 and 82. The tornado crossed into DeKalb County east of Gaines Road.

A tornado tracked east from Marshall County along County Road 381. The tornado struck the Kilpatrick community along County Road 479 injuring 7 residents of mobile homes. Very large hardwood trees were snapped near the base. Numerous power poles were snapped at the base. Several mobile homes sustained significant damage with at least two completely destroyed. Several convectional homes sustained minor to moderate exterior damage in this area as well. At this location, the tornado was at its maximum width (220 yards) and intensity (estimated winds of 125 mph). The tornado continued to move east producing substantial damage to a large livestock building near the intersection of Highways 68 and 168. Metal from the roof that was damaged at the Sand Mountain Stockyards was blown down the road for around a mile. The convenience store at that point suffered minor roof damage. A semi truck pulling a trailer on Alabama 168 from the Family Dollar store chain was knocked onto its side by the high winds. The tornado continued to parallel Highway 68. A car wash sustained significant structural damage. A mobile home was flipped and destroyed near the intersection of Highway 68 and County Road 9004. The tornado narrowed and lifted near the intersection of Highway 68 and County Road 113.

A tornado touched down along County Road 539 north of County Road 50 in the Fyffe and Shiloh communities. Minor tree damage was noted in this area. An unoccupied chicken house also sustained damage. Near the intersection of County Roads 50 and 43, a restaurant sustained roof damage and a carport was flattened. Further east, another large farm building sustained major damage. Along Highway 50, additional chicken houses were damaged or destroyed along with trees snapped and uprooted.||The most significant damage occurred along Traylor Street just north of Highway 50/Grove Oak Road. Two large, well constructed, farm buildings were completely destroyed. One of these contained metal trusses and the posts were ripped out of the ground. Debris was thrown several hundred yards and large debris was embedded into the ground. A nearby home sustained minor structural damage. The path widened to 350 yards with estimated maximum wind speeds of 120 mph. The tornado began to narrow and weaken as it moved further east as it crossed County Roads 523 and 578. The tornado lifted near County road 72/Tumlin Road norht of Highway 75.

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

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Huntsville, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Mar 18, 2:31 PM CDT, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 18, 2:31 PM CDT, 1 hour 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
231 PM CDT MON MAR 18 2013

.DISCUSSION...
STRONG/SVR CONVECTION IS IMPACTING MUCH OF THE CNTRL/WRN HALF OF THE
AREA THIS AFTERNOON...ALONG A PRE-FRONTAL AXIS PUSHING EWD INTO MID
TN LEADING INTO EXTREME NE MS. THIS ACTIVITY SHOULD GRADUALLY MAKES
ITS WAY EWD THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON PERIOD...WITH
DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL THE PRIMARY THREATS. THERE IS A LOW
END TORNADO THREAT GIVEN THE STRENGTH AND SOMEWHAT VEERING PROFILE
OF THE LOW LEVEL WIND FIELD...ALTHOUGH THE GREATER PROB EXISTS MORE
INTO CNTRL/SRN AL WHERE BETTER LOW LEVEL INSTABILITY IS IN PLACE. A
SVR TSTM WATCH/SVA 52 IS IN PLACE THROUGH 9 PM FOR THE ENTIRE AREA.
HOWEVER...AS THE BULK OF THE STRONGER CONVECTION CONTINUES TO MOVE
EWD INTO THE LATE AFTERNOON HRS...THE SVR WX THREAT SHOULD BEGIN TO
DIMINISH FROM W TO E AND LIKEWISE THE WATCH WILL MORE THAN LIKELY BE
CANCELLED STARTING WITH THE WRN COUNTIES. THE COLD FRONT ITSELF WILL
BEGIN TO MOVE EWD ACROSS THE AREA EARLY THIS EVENING...WITH PRECIP
TAPERING OFF WITH THE FRONTAL PASSAGE.

QUIET AND MORE SEASONAL LIKE WX IS THEN XPCTED STARTING TUE...AS A
STRONG AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE OUT OF THE NRN/MID PLAINS BUILDS INTO
THE SE REGION. THE SFC HIGH ACTUALLY LOOKS TO BECOME REINFORCED
ACROSS THE MIDWEST REGION GOING PAST MID WEEK AS THE FLOW PATTERN
TURNS SOMEWHAT TOWARD THE NW. THIS LOOKS TO RESULT IN YET ANOTHER
UNSEASONABLY COLD NIGHT WED...AS OVERNIGHT LOWS FALL MORE INTO THE
MID/UPPER 20S. CONDITIONS/TEMPS SHOULD THEN BEGIN TO REBOUND BY THU
AS THE SFC HIGH GRADUALLY MAKES ITS WAY EWD ACROSS THE REGION.

UNFORTUNATELY THE FORECAST BECOMES SOMEWHAT MURKY HEADING TOWARD THE
END OF THE WORK WEEK. LATEST GLOBAL MODEL SUITES ARE HINTING AT THE
OVERALL PATTERN BECOMING QUITE ACTIVE LATE THU AND INTO FRI...AS THE
SRN STREAM INTERACTS WITH DEVELOPING ENERGY ALONG THE SRN END OF A
SHARP AMPLIFYING TROUGH PATTERN ACROSS THE PLAINS STATES. GENERAL
CONSENSUS THOUGH IS NOT THAT GOOD REGARDING SPECIFIC FEATURES AND
TIMING WITH THE EVOLVING WX PATTERN...OTHER THAN PRECIP/SHOWERS
DEVELOPING INVOF MULTIPLE SFC WAVES ACROSS THE LOWER SE. HOPEFULLY
THE RUN TO RUN CONTINUITY AMONG THE VARIOUS MODELS IMPROVES AS MID
WEEK APPROACHES.

09

&&

.AVIATION...
/ISSUED 1231 PM CDT MON MAR 18 2013/
FOR 18Z TAFS...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO IMPACT
THE TERMINALS /KHSV AND KMSL/ THROUGH AT LEAST 21Z. THERE ARE 2 LINES
TO FOCUS ON ATTM...THE INITIAL LINE ORIENTED SW-NE FROM NEAR
RUSSELLVILLE TO ATHENS AND THE OTHER LINE JUST TO THE WEST EXTENDING
FROM NE MISSISSIPPI TO SRN MIDDLE TN. MVFR CIGS WILL PERSIST OUTSIDE
OF ANY CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY. WITHIN THE STORMS...BRIEF WIND GUSTS TO
35KTS AND HAIL UP TO 3/4 INCH WILL BE POSSIBLE. POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE
STORMS WILL PERSIST THROUGH AT LEAST 19-21Z WITH LARGER HAIL AND
STRONGER WINDS POSSIBLE.

COLD FRONT WILL CROSS KMSL BTWN 21-23Z AND KHSV BTWN 22-00Z WITH
WINDS SHIFTING AROUND TO THE NW. MVFR TO IFR CIGS AND AREAS OF RAIN
WILL OCCUR FOR SEVERAL HOURS EARLY THIS EVENING BEFORE DRIER AIR
MOVES IN AND RAIN ENDS. CIGS WILL IMPROVE BTWN 04-07Z AND VFR
CONDITIONS WILL LIKELY PREVAIL FOR THE REMAINDER OF TEH TAF PERIOD
/09-18Z/.

DJN.83

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
HUNTSVILLE    40  63  38  63 /  50   0   0   0
SHOALS        39  62  36  61 /  40   0   0   0
VINEMONT      38  61  36  61 /  60   0   0   0
FAYETTEVILLE  37  59  34  58 /  50   0   0  10
ALBERTVILLE   40  60  34  61 /  70   0   0   0
FORT PAYNE    39  61  33  61 /  70   0   0   0

&&

.HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
AL...NONE.
TN...NONE.
&&

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE
AT WEATHER.GOV/HUNTSVILLE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 18, 3:12 PM CDT, 29 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
312 PM CDT MON MAR 18 2013

ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-190600-
LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN-
MARSHALL-JACKSON-DEKALB-CULLMAN-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN-
312 PM CDT MON MAR 18 2013

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA AND PORTIONS
OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...

A LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO IMPACT
NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ALABAMA THROUGH 6 PM. THE PRIMARY THREAT
AT THIS TIME HAS TRANSITIONED TO DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH.
HOWEVER...IN SOME OF THE STRONGER EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS...HAIL UP
TO AROUND 1 INCH IN DIAMETER WILL BE POSSIBLE.

THE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER HAS ENDED ACROSS NORTHWEST ALABAMA.
THE SEVERE THREAT WILL END ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA AND SOUTHERN
MIDDLE TENNESSEE BETWEEN 4 AND 5 PM...AND OVER NORTHEAST ALABAMA
BETWEEN 6 AND 7 PM.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS
REQUESTED AND SHOULD CONTINUE THROUGH AT LEAST 6 PM THIS EVENING.

DJN

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 18, 3:18 PM CDT, 23 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
318 PM CDT MON MAR 18 2013

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

0211 PM     TSTM WND DMG     RUSSELLVILLE            34.51N 87.73W
03/18/2013                   FRANKLIN           AL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            TREE DOWN ON A STRUCTURE ON COLLEGE AVENUE.

&&

NWSHUN

Local storm report, Mar 18, 3:20 PM CDT, 21 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
320 PM CDT MON MAR 18 2013

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

0220 PM     TSTM WND DMG     4 ESE FORD CITY         34.77N 87.45W
03/18/2013                   COLBERT            AL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            A PORTABLE GARAGE BLOWN UP INTO A TREE ON FOSTER MILL
            ROAD.

&&

NWSHUN

Local storm report, Mar 18, 3:33 PM CDT, 8 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
333 PM CDT MON MAR 18 2013

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

0310 PM     TSTM WND DMG     N RIPLEY                34.76N 87.12W
03/18/2013                   LIMESTONE          AL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            ROOF DAMAGE TO A MOBILE HOME ON SHAW ROAD.

&&

NWSHUN

Local storm report, Mar 18, 3:34 PM CDT, 7 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
334 PM CDT MON MAR 18 2013

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

0320 PM     HAIL             REDSTONE ARSENAL        34.68N 86.65W
03/18/2013  E1.00 INCH       MADISON            AL   PUBLIC

            QUARTER SIZED HAIL REPORTED.

&&

NWSHUN

Local storm report, Mar 18, 3:35 PM CDT, 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
335 PM CDT MON MAR 18 2013

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

0330 PM     TSTM WND DMG     ARAB                    34.32N 86.50W
03/18/2013                   MARSHALL           AL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            NUMEROUS TREES DOWN. ESTIMATED WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 55
            MPH.

&&

NWSHUN

Local storm report, Mar 18, 3:36 PM CDT, 5 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
336 PM CDT MON MAR 18 2013

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

0330 PM     TSTM WND DMG     GUNTERSVILLE            34.36N 86.29W
03/18/2013                   MARSHALL           AL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            NUMEROUS TREES DOWN. WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH
            REPORTED.

&&

NWSHUN

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.

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 12:00Z

8.7 hours before the tornado, 137 km from the path. March 18, 2013.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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: 196 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -139 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 68 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 520 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 298 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 281 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.8
0-3 km lapse rate: 5.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 00:00Z

3.3 hours after it, 137 km from the path. March 19, 2013.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

Mixed-layer CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -410 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1696 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 43 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 101 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 203 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 4.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Albertville (BFZ), 15 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
00:00 UTC

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

The radar

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 74 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:42 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.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2013 tornado in Alabama Every tornado in Alabama since 1950 Warnings in force in Alabama now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of March 18, 2013

9 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
March 18	7:40 AM CDT	EF1	Houston, TN	10.6	150		$325,000
March 18	11:22 AM CDT	EF0	Maury, TN	3.7	50		$50,000
March 18	11:47 AM CDT	EF0	Bedford, TN	3.9	50		$50,000
March 18	12:12 PM CDT	EF0	Rutherford, TN	3.8	100		$50,000
March 18	2:10 PM CDT	EF0	Colbert, AL	1.6	100
March 18	3:41 PM CDT	EF1	Etowah, AL	8.0	300	3
March 18	3:43 PM CDT	EF2	DeKalb, AL	6.0	350
March 18	6:10 PM EDT	EF2	Meriwether, GA	13.3	300		$285,000
March 18	9:01 PM EDT	EF1	Burke, GA	5.8	220		$120,000

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.