EF0 tornado, Perote, Alabama, May 14, 2014

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.

Rating

EF0

Date

May 14, 2014

Touchdown

2:18 PM CDT (19:18 UTC)

Lifted

2:20 PM CDT (19:20 UTC)

On the ground

2 minutes

Path length

0.9 miles (1.4 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Bullock County

Touchdown point

31.949, -85.741

Lift-off point

31.958, -85.730

Record number

1405141318-01

7 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS BMX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 85 mph.

• Trees down visible from road to the west. Approximate end point.

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

Widespread showers and thunderstorms moved northward across Central Alabama Wednesday afternoon, May 14. This activity developed just ahead of an approaching cold front. The atmosphere was quite tropical with precipitable water values over 1.50 inches. Environmental parameters were marginal for the development of severe thunderstorms. However, isolated thunderstorms did exhibit some rotation across East Central Alabama.

A brief tornado, with maximum winds estimated to be 85 mph, touched down in southern Bullock county, approximately two miles west of the Perote community and just south of County Road 8, damaging several trees.

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

NWS Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at May 14, 12:41 PM CDT, 1 hour 37 minutes earlier.

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HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1247 PM CDT WED MAY 14 2014

ALZ011>015-017>050-151800-
MARION-LAMAR-FAYETTE-WINSTON-WALKER-BLOUNT-ETOWAH-CALHOUN-CHEROKEE-
CLEBURNE-PICKENS-TUSCALOOSA-JEFFERSON-SHELBY-ST. CLAIR-TALLADEGA-
CLAY-RANDOLPH-SUMTER-GREENE-HALE-PERRY-BIBB-CHILTON-COOSA-TALLAPOOSA-
CHAMBERS-MARENGO-DALLAS-AUTAUGA-LOWNDES-ELMORE-MONTGOMERY-MACON-
BULLOCK-LEE-RUSSELL-PIKE-BARBOUR-
1247 PM CDT WED MAY 14 2014

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

THERE IS A THREAT OF HEAVY RAINFALL FROM THUNDERSTORMS THAT COULD
LEAD TO FLASH FLOODING. ALTHOUGH THIS FLOODING THREAT INCLUDES ALL
OF CENTRAL ALABAMA...IT APPEARS THE HIGHEST RAIN AMOUNTS WILL BE
ACROSS THE MIDDLE OF THE STATE...INCLUDING THE HIGH POPULATION
AREAS OF BIRMINGHAM AND MONTGOMERY. THE RAIN IS EXPECTED TO TAPER
OFF AS A COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE AREA TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY.

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT MAY BE
NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT FOR FLOODING.

In the hours before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
129 PM CDT WED MAY 14 2014

ALZ049-141900-
PIKE AL-
129 PM CDT WED MAY 14 2014

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR PIKE COUNTY UNTIL 200 PM CDT...

AT 126 PM CDT...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAS TRACKING A STRONG
THUNDERSTORM NEAR ANTIOCH...OR NEAR BRUNDIDGE...MOVING NORTH AT 30
MPH.

WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM...ALONG WITH
HEAVY RAIN.

LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
  BRUNDIDGE...
  TROY...
  ANTIOCH...
  TROY UNIVERSITY...
  ANSLEY...

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA...TAKE SHELTER IN A
STURDY BUILDING.

TORRENTIAL RAIN...WHICH MAY FLOOD LOW LYING AREAS SUCH AS DITCHES AND
UNDERPASSES...IS ALSO LIKELY. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE ON A FLOODED
ROADWAY.

&&

LAT...LON 3161 8617 3162 8618 3167 8615 3178 8615
      3179 8620 3194 8619 3197 8616 3197 8600
      3205 8600 3206 8591 3196 8588 3197 8579
      3188 8579 3188 8566 3178 8566 3173 8571
      3162 8574
TIME...MOT...LOC 1829Z 201DEG 27KT 3173 8588

61

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.

Troy Municipal (TOI), 28 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 61 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:18 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.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2014 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

8 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.