EF1 tornado, Blackrock to Postoak, Alabama, November 17, 2014

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

November 17, 2014

Touchdown

4:25 AM CST (10:25 UTC)

Lifted

5:17 AM CST (11:17 UTC)

On the ground

52 minutes

Path length

40.7 miles (65.5 km)

Path width

500 yards (457 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$285,000

Counties

Crenshaw, Pike and Bullock counties

Touchdown point

31.737, -86.430

Lift-off point

32.002, -85.811

Record number

1411170425-01

54 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS BMX and NWS MOB, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 96 mph.

• minor damage to corner of roof of one residence due to tree
• car also damaged by down tree
• 3 residences w/ major damage due to fallen trees
• Shingles also blown off residence. numerous trees and power lines down

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

Isolated severe thunderstorms moved across the area during the early morning hours of November 17th, producing 3 weak tornadoes that caused damage in portions of southwest and south central Alabama.

A surface low intensified as it moved from southwest to northeast across Central Alabama during the overnight hours Sunday, November 16th, and into early morning hours on Monday, November 17th. As it did so, moist, unstable air surged northward to the east of the low across the Interstate 85 corridor. Severe thunderstorms developed in the warm sector and produced a few weak tornadoes, which caused tree and power line damage across portions of rural Perry, Pike, Bullock and Russell Counties.

The tornado first touched own on Cook Stand Road just east of the Butler County line. Several homes experienced significant damage due to downed trees. A double wide manufactured home was shifted off its blocks. The tornado tracked east northeast across highway 10 where it produced minor shingle damage and broken windows to a single family home. The tornado continued northeast producing sporadic tree damage. A chicken house was destroyed on Quail Tower Road. The tornado intensified again as it crossed highway 331. Numerous chicken houses were destroyed on CR 50 and Cross Road. The tornado continued northeast and produced additional sporadic tree damage until it reached the Pike County line just south and east of Petrey.

This tornado is a continuation from the track surveyed in Crenshaw County by the the Mobile National Weather Service Forecast Office. The tornado continued into Pike County crossing County Road 1160 where numerous hard and softwood trees sustained damage. Most of the damage observed was sheared tree tops and large broken branches. From there, the damage path continued northeast across the northern portion of the county. The most significant and widespread damage occurred along County Road 1139, where maximum winds reached 90 mph. Numerous trees were snapped about half way up and several trees were also uprooted. The maximum width was also measured at this location. The tornado continued northeast crossing several more county roads and Highway 231. Tree damage was minor and sporadic for much of the rest of the path, with mainly large tree branches and limbs down. The tornado the crossed into Bullock County along County Roads 15 and 8, near Stills Crossroads.

This tornado is a continuation from a track surveyed in Pike County. The tornado crossed into southwest Bullock County near County Road 69. The tornado continued northeast crossing County Road 15, where maximum winds reached 75 mph. The tornado dissipated just east of County Road 8. The damage along the path consisted mainly of downed large tree limbs.

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

4 minutes of warning. NWS MOB issued a tornado warning for this county at 10:21 UTC, 4 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 11:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 07:32 UTC and running to 12:38 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. The outlook in force was issued at 05:43 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 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.

The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 77 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 10:27 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.

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 2014 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

9 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.