Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2015

EF2 tornado, Theba to Social Town, Alabama, January 4, 2015

Name: EF2 tornado, Theba to Social Town, Alabama, January 4, 2015
Start: 2015-01-04T09:11:00.000Z
End: 2015-01-04T09:35:00.000Z
Location: Theba to Social Town, Alabama

From Theba to Social Town, this EF2 tornado ran 14.3 miles across Crenshaw County on January 4, 2015, touching down at 3:11 AM CST and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $200,000 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 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: January 4, 2015
Touchdown: 3:11 AM CST (09:11 UTC)
Lifted: 3:35 AM CST (09:35 UTC)
On the ground: 24 minutes
Path length: 14.3 miles (23.0 km)
Path width: 100 yards (91 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $200,000
County: Crenshaw County
Touchdown point: 31.570, -86.375
Lift-off point: 31.715, -86.201
Record number: 1501040311-01

The damage survey

15 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS MOB, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EFU. The highest wind the damage implies is 118 mph.

40-50yds wide. other pine trees broken.

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

A severe thunderstorms developed during the early morning hours and produced a tornado which caused damage in southwest Alabama.

A severe thunderstorm moved northeastward across Crenshaw County and spawned a tornado which tracked from extreme southwest Crenshaw County to east central Crenshaw County. The tornado initially touched down at EF-0 intensity about 5 miles north of Dozier or about 1 mile northeast of Leon. The tornado varied in strength from EF-1 to EF-2 before dissipating about 4 miles east of Luverne, or about 1 mile south-southwest of Vidette. The survey showed strong evidence of convergence into the center of the path for just about every single damage location surveyed. Damage along the path was primarily snapped trunks of pine and hardwood trees on both hilltops and valleys. Chicken houses and outbuildings were destroyed. In addition, the tornado resulted in significant damage to a house and car at the end of the path before the tornado quickly dissipated. The path width varied from 40 yards to a maximum of 100 yards, but averaged 60 to 80 yards at most points.

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 Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jan 4, 12:05 AM CST, 3 hours 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 4, 12:05 AM CST, 3 hours 6 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 3, 4:39 AM CST, 22 hours 32 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
439 AM CST SAT JAN 3 2015

ALZ051>064-FLZ001>006-MSZ067-075-076-078-079-041200-
CHOCTAW-WASHINGTON-CLARKE-WILCOX-MONROE-CONECUH-BUTLER-CRENSHAW-
ESCAMBIA-COVINGTON-UPPER MOBILE-UPPER BALDWIN-LOWER MOBILE-
LOWER BALDWIN-INLAND ESCAMBIA-COASTAL ESCAMBIA-INLAND SANTA ROSA-
COASTAL SANTA ROSA-INLAND OKALOOSA-COASTAL OKALOOSA-WAYNE-PERRY-
GREENE-STONE-GEORGE-
439 AM CST SAT JAN 3 2015

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL
ALABAMA...SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...NORTHWEST FLORIDA AND SOUTHEAST
MISSISSIPPI.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE IN COVERAGE FROM WEST TO
EAST THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT.
ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY ALONG AND WEST OF A
CAMDEN...MONROEVILLE...BAY MINETTE...TO MOBILE LINE. THE PRIMARY SEVERE
WEATHER THREATS WILL BE DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AND AN ISOLATED TORNADO.
THE MOST LIKELY TIME FRAME FOR STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS WILL BE FROM
2 PM TO 10 PM.

LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS LIKELY WHICH WILL RESULT IN SOME MINOR
FLOODING ISSUES IN URBAN AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. ISOLATED INSTANCES
OF FLASH FLOODING ARE ALSO POSSIBLE...PRIMARILY OVER INLAND SOUTHEAST
MISSISSIPPI AND FAR INLAND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA.

THERE IS A HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS ALONG THE BEACHES OF ALABAMA
AND NORTHWEST FLORIDA THROUGH TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

AN ARCTIC AIRMASS WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA MID TO LATE WEEK. A HARD
FREEZE IS POSSIBLE ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION THURSDAY AND FRIDAY
MORNINGS. THERE IS ALSO THE POTENTIAL FOR SINGLE DIGIT WIND CHILLS
EARLY THURSDAY MORNING.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

GMZ630>635-650-655-670-675-041200-
NORTHERN MOBILE BAY-SOUTHERN MOBILE BAY-MISSISSIPPI SOUND-
PERDIDO BAY-PENSACOLA BAY SYSTEM-CHOCTAWHATCHEE BAY-
COASTAL WATERS FROM PENSACOLA FL TO PASCAGOULA MS OUT 20 NM-
COASTAL WATERS FROM DESTIN TO PENSACOLA FL OUT 20 NM-
WATERS FROM PENSACOLA FL TO PASCAGOULA MS FROM 20 TO 60 NM-
WATERS FROM DESTIN TO PENSACOLA FL FROM 20 TO 60 NM-
439 AM CST SAT JAN 3 2015

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF THE COASTAL
WATERS OF ALABAMA AND NORTHWEST FLORIDA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

SMALL CRAFT SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION THROUGH TONIGHT AS A MODERATE TO
STRONG ONSHORE FLOW PERSISTS. SEAS OF 4 TO 6 FEET CAN BE EXPECTED
OVER THE GULF WATERS.

A FEW STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE MARINE AREA
LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS FOR SMALL CRAFT WILL PERSIST
THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEKEND AS A MODERATE TO STRONG OFFSHORE FLOW
DEVELOPS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND PERSISTS THROUGH AT LEAST MONDAY
MORNING IN THE WAKE OF THE FRONTAL PASSAGE. A SMALL CRAFT MAY BECOME
NECESSARY.

EVEN STRONGER OFFSHORE WINDS ARE EXPECTED BY WEDNESDAY NIGHT WITH GUSTS
TO GALE FORCE POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY OVER THE OPEN GULF WATERS.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jan 4, 12:42 AM CST, 2 hours 29 minutes before

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Special weather statement, Jan 4, 1:14 AM CST, 1 hour 57 minutes before

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Special weather statement, Jan 4, 1:16 AM CST, 1 hour 55 minutes before

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Special weather statement, Jan 4, 2:08 AM CST, 1 hour 3 minutes before

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Special weather statement, Jan 4, 2:12 AM CST, 59 minutes before

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The surface observations

Troy Municipal (TOI), 36 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 Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 81 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 09:11 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 2015 tornado in Alabama Every tornado in Alabama since 1950 Warnings in force in Alabama now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of January 4, 2015

10 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
January 4	6:27 AM CST	EF0	Dale, AL	1.5	50		$10,000
January 4	6:30 AM CST	EF0	Dale, AL	0.0	50		$5,000
January 4	7:25 AM CST	EF0	Henry, AL	0.6	50
January 4	11:27 AM EST	EF1	Tift, GA	0.3	100		$3,000
January 4	11:32 AM EST	EF0	Pulaski, GA	0.2	50		$15,000
January 4	11:44 AM EST	EF0	Pulaski, GA	2.2	100		$10,000
January 4	11:45 AM EST	EF1	Tift, GA	0.3	100		$10,000
January 4	11:55 AM EST	EF1	Dodge, GA	0.3	120		$3,000
January 4	1:03 PM EST	EF1	Bacon, GA	4.8	50	2
January 4	3:03 PM EST	EF1	Chatham, GA	3.0	440

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.