EF3 tornado, Roslie to Sulphur Spgs, Alabama, November 30, 2016

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 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 mphthis tornado

   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

EF3

Date

November 30, 2016

Touchdown

12:02 AM CST (06:02 UTC)

Lifted

12:20 AM CST (06:20 UTC)

On the ground

18 minutes

Path length

13.5 miles (21.7 km)

Path width

206 yards (188 m)

Deaths

4

Injuries

9

Counties

Jackson and DeKalb counties

Touchdown point

34.690, -85.780

Lift-off point

34.780, -85.570

Record number

1611300002-01

91 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS HUN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF3. The highest wind the damage implies is 145 mph.

• Note terminte damage to floor plates connecting to foundation. Lowerd DI to walls collapsed and maxed winds at 145mph.
• Noted terminte damage to floor plates connecting to foundation. Lowerd DI to walls collapsed and maxed winds at 145mph.
• two passenger vans were shifted 90 degrees from their parking spots.
• metal pole bent with snapped power lines

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

A tornado outbreak occurred during the evening hours of the 29th into the early morning hours of the 30th. A very mild and unstable air mass was in place along with a strong southwesterly upper level jet. These ingredients combined with a cold front and pre-frontal trough sweeping from west to east across the area sparked scattered supercell thunderstorms during the evening, a few of which were tornadic. This was followed by a quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) that occurred with the trough, which also was responsible for severe weather. Beneficial rainfall occurred with this system with 2-5 inches reported. Some of the rainfall fell fast enough to produce brief flash flooding in the Florence area during the evening.

Sporadic damage was first observed along CR-71, north of Pisgah with much more widespread tree and structure damage observed CR-71 and CR-60, entering into Rosalie, where the tornado was suspected to touch down. Numerous hardwood and pine softwood trees were observed to be uprooted or snapped along with several wooden power line poles snapped. As the tornado moved east-northeast, nearly on top of CR-71, roof damage was reported to a brick church. Additionally, a large two story wooden structure (used for church related receptions) was heavily damaged. Damage indicators for that structure were related to a small barn. EF-1 damage was recorded for the area around the church with winds approximately 100 mph.||EF-2 damage was observed nearly one quarter mile further ENE along CR-71. A long, one story strip mall was destroyed (Rosalie Plaza Grocery). The assessment team noted that the roof was not strapped down and that cinder blocks were only held together by mortar. It was determined that the tornado likely blew the roof off the structure which quickly led to the block walls to collapse. Winds of 125 mph were estimated.||Additional EF-2 damage was reported one quarter to one third mile further ENE along CR-71. Several mobile homes, with at least one mobile home noted to have been tied down, were completely destroyed. Three fatalities were reported from this section of damage. Additionally, numerous softwood trees were either uprooted or snapped along with several wooden power poles snapped.

The assessment team was able to connect the previous Rosalie track to the Ider track after observing significant roof damage to single family home with complete destruction to a barn on the property near the intersection of CR-345 and CR-78. Additional points were added along CR-330 to CR-117 (DeKalb Co.) after the team recorded snapped softwood and hardwood trees and damage to a large anchored shed.||Significant damage was observed from the tornado along CR-117 and CR-159. Numerous hardwood and softwood trees were either uprooted or snapped at the |trunk along CR-117 leading up to CR-159. The strongest winds of this tornado were recorded near this location. A one story day care center was completely destroyed and blown off its foundation. Preliminary info recorded 10 injuries at this location. The damage assessment team noted the structure was bolted the foundation, however the floor plates connecting to the foundation were observed to have some degree of degradation. This led to a preliminary assessment of a tornado of EF-3 strength with winds approximately 145 mph. *Update: of the 10 injuries, one individual has since passed away on 2/8/17. ||Between CR-117 and AL-75 in DeKalb County, numerous chicken farms were completely destroyed along. Several homes in the area sustained significant roof damage and two anchored mobiles homes were observed to have rolled. One unanchored mobile home was completely destroyed with scattered debris. ||Finally, the team traveled along CR-792 in the Deer Head Cove area (near the AL/GA|state line) and observed complete destruction to a well anchored and large metal |shed. Winds were estimated to be 111 MPH at this location. Numerous soft wood pine trees were snapped or uprooted up to the AL/GA state line. The team traveled into|nearby Dade County, observed minor debris, but no damage.

The deaths

4 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

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

0 minutes of warning. NWS HUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 06:02 UTC, 0 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 06:26 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 04:28 UTC and running to 08:54 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 05:23 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 Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 43 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 06:02 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 2016 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

16 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.