Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2016
EF1 tornado, South, Alabama, February 15, 2016
This EF1 tornado ran 4.5 miles across Covington County on February 15, 2016, touching down at 5:00 PM CST and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody and injured 1, and did $100,000 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 15, 2016
- Touchdown
- 5:00 PM CST (23:00 UTC)
- Lifted
- 5:02 PM CST (23:02 UTC)
- On the ground
- 2 minutes
- Path length
- 4.5 miles (7.3 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 1
- Property damage
- $100,000
- County
- Covington County
- Touchdown point
- 31.457, -86.618
- Lift-off point
- 31.514, -86.579
- Record number
- 1602151700-01
The damage survey
7 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 110 mph.
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
Severe thunderstorms developed across southwest and south central Alabama during the afternoon and evening of February 15th as a strong upper level disturbance moved from the southern Plains to the Tennessee Valley. The severe storms developed along and ahead of the trailing cold front, producing both tornadoes and straight line wind damage.
This tornado was produced from the same parent supercell that produced tornadoes in Conecuh and Escambia Counties in Alabama as well as Escambia County Florida. The Covington County tornado first produced sporadic tree damage on Lloyd Mill Road. The tornado reached peak intensity of EF-1 when it moved across Swinson Road and destroyed a single wide mobile home. One person in the home suffered minor injuries. The tornado continued northeast and porduced further sporadic tree damage and minor roof damage to a few residences. It lifted and dissipated on Boykin Road just south of the Butler County line.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
29 minutes of warning. NWS MOB issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:31 UTC, 29 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:15 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:06 UTC and running to 00:54 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17:30 UTC | 00:00 UTC | Wind Advisory | MOB |
| 18:06 UTC | 00:54 UTC | Tornado Watch | MOB |
| 22:31 UTC | 23:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | MOB |
| 23:10 UTC | 23:21 UTC | Tornado Warning | MOB |
| 23:37 UTC | 00:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB |
| 23:59 UTC | 00:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB |
| 00:02 UTC | 00:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm 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 19:56 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 radar
The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 108 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:01 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20:45 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 5 W I65 And Al 10 | Butler, AL | DIME SIZED HAIL REPORTED AT THE INTERSECTION OF SHACKLEVILLE RD AND HWY 10. |
| 22:05 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | East Brewton | Escambia, AL | TREES DOWN IN EAST BREWTON. |
| 22:05 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | East Brewton | Escambia, AL | TREES DOWN IN EAST BREWTON. RELAYED VIA SOCIAL MEDIA. |
| 22:33 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Se Johnsonville | Conecuh, AL | STORM CHASER REPORTS THAT A TORNADO CROSSED CR-6 AND DESTROYED THE JOHNSONVILLE VFD. A HOME SUSTAINED ROOF DAMAGE WITH NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES SNAPPED. |
| 22:39 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Nne Andalusia | Covington, AL | TREES DOWN. POWERLINE POLES SNAPPED. |
| 22:57 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Nw Red Level | Covington, AL | *** 1 INJ *** COVINGTON COUNTY EMA REPORTED A MOBILE HOME DESTROYED WITH 1 INJURY. |
| 23:46 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 6 Nne Andalusia | Covington, AL | NUMEROUS TREES DOWN ON STRAUGHN SCHOOL ROAD. WINDS ESTIMATED BETWEEN 70 TO 80 MPH. |
| 23:47 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Ene Heath | Covington, AL | NUMEROUS TREES DOWN ALONG COUNTRY DRIVE. ONE TREE FELL ONTO A HOME CAUSING ROOF DAMAGE. A SHED WAS ALSO DESTROYED. WINDS ESTIMATED BETWEEN 70 TO 80 MPH. |
| 23:49 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Brantley | Crenshaw, AL | OLDER BARN FELL IN. |
| 23:51 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Ene Brantley | Crenshaw, AL | BARN DESTROYED ON EMMETT AVE. |
| 23:57 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 N Glenwood | Crenshaw, AL | DAMAGED CHICKEN HOUSES. |
| 23:59 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Ene Goshen | Pike, AL | LARGE TREES DOWN NEAR GOSHEN HIGH SCHOOL. WINDS WERE ESTIMATED AT 70 TO 80 MPH. OTHER THAN SPORADIC TREE DAMAGE THE ONLY OTHER DAMAGE WAS TO A BUILDING AT A PEANUT FARM. THE FORCE OF THE STRONG WINDS PULLED THE FOOTINGS |
| 00:04 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Ene Goshen | Pike, AL | LARGE TREES DOWN NEAR GOSHEN HIGH SCHOOL. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR. |
| 00:05 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Sse Bullock | Coffee, AL | TREES DOWN NEAR COFFEE COUNTY LAKE WITH CAR DAMAGED FROM FALLING TREES |
| 00:10 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Bluff Spring | Coffee, AL | REPORTS OF TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF COFFEE COUNTY |
| 00:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Sw Elba | Coffee, AL | TREE DOWN ON HIGHWAY 189 ABOUT 5 MILES OUTSIDE OF ELBA ALONG WITH POWER LINES DOWN |
| 00:17 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Arcus | Coffee, AL | TREES DOWN ON HIGHWAY 125 BETWEEN ELBA AND HIGHWAY 167N |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2016 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of February 15, 2016
16 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 15 | 10:22 AM CST | EF0 | Avoyelles Parish, LA | 0.3 | 20 | $10,000 | ||
| February 15 | 11:00 AM CST | EF0 | Hinds, MS | 0.5 | 50 | $3,000 | ||
| February 15 | 12:10 PM CST | EF2 | Copiah, MS | 30.3 | 250 | $960,000 | ||
| February 15 | 12:15 PM CST | EF1 | Leake, MS | 1.9 | 300 | $800,000 | ||
| February 15 | 12:45 PM CST | EF1 | Winston, MS | 2.5 | 200 | $45,000 | ||
| February 15 | 1:04 PM CST | EF0 | Jefferson Davis Parish, LA | 0.8 | 10 | |||
| February 15 | 1:15 PM CST | EF1 | Walthall, MS | 5.0 | 250 | 2 | ||
| February 15 | 1:24 PM CST | EF0 | Smith, MS | 2.1 | 100 | $15,000 | ||
| February 15 | 1:43 PM CST | EF1 | Smith, MS | 2.7 | 250 | $250,000 | ||
| February 15 | 1:52 PM CST | EF1 | Smith, MS | 14.6 | 350 | $608,000 | ||
| February 15 | 3:32 PM CST | EF3 | Escambia, FL to AL | 16.4 | 300 | 3 | $5.8 million | |
| February 15 | 4:00 PM CST | EF0 | Montgomery, AL | 2.5 | 75 | |||
| February 15 | 4:33 PM CST | EF2 | Conecuh, AL | 2.2 | 250 | $750,000 | ||
| February 15 | 6:20 PM CST | EF1 | Pike, AL | 5.0 | 400 | |||
| February 15 | 6:57 PM CST | EF1 | Russell, AL | 6.8 | 400 | |||
| February 15 | 7:00 PM CST | EF0 | Russell, AL | 7.1 | 250 |
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.