EF2 tornado, Terese to Hatcher, Alabama, April 5, 2017

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 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.

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

EF2

Date

April 5, 2017

Touchdown

10:49 AM CDT (15:49 UTC)

Lifted

11:04 AM CDT (16:04 UTC)

On the ground

15 minutes

Path length

10.4 miles (16.7 km)

Path width

1,140 yards (1042 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$600,000

Counties

Quitman, Clay, Barbour and Henry counties

Touchdown point

31.759, -85.175

Lift-off point

31.822, -85.015

Record number

1704050949-01

79 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TAE, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 115 mph.

• 60 degree angle to tree on house.
• 2-3 foot screw the pulled from ground.
• Anchored mobile home displaced.
• Across Lake from displaced mobile home.

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

April 5th was a very active severe weather day across central Alabama. During the pre-dawn hours, a warm lifted northward into south central Alabama. Supercells formed along the advancing warm front, producing numerous reports of large hail and a few reports of wind damage and isolated tornadoes. A second round of severe storms developed during the afternoon and evening as an upper level short wave trough approached the area from the west.

Severe weather during the first week of April resulted in a couple of tornadoes and several reports of hail and straight line wind damage across the tri-state area.

Severe weather during the first week of April resulted in a couple of tornadoes and several reports of hail and straight line wind damage across the tri-state area.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in far southeastern Barbour County and determined that the damage was consistent with a EF1 tornado, with maximum sustained winds near 105 mph. The tornado touched down near Sandy Creek Drive where several trees were snapped and uprooted. The tornado traveled northeast and across White Oak Creek where it entered Henry County Alabama.

The tornado touched down in extreme southeastern Barbour County in the White Oak community producing EF1 damage on White Oak Drive. The tornado then crossed Sandy Creek into Henry County's White Oak subdivision producing mostly EF1 damage across the entire width of the neighborhood between Sandy Creek and White Oak Creek. However, a double-wide manufactured home on Laurel Drive was shifted about 8 feet despite being strapped to the ground by 2 to 3 foot anchors which were completely pulled from the ground. This justified EF2 damage in this location with winds estimated at 115 mph. The tornado then crossed the Walter F. George Reservoir, also known as Lake Eufaula, into the state of Georgia with EF1 damage on the eastern shore of the lake along County Road 28. The tornado came ashore at the Quitman-Clay County line producing damage in both counties primarily in the form of uprooted trees. The trees damaged several homes. Debris from a lakeside porch was lofted and deposited on the opposite side of the home and strewn across an adjacent field. The tornado continued northeastward across rural Quitman County hitting the Self Family Farm on Self Road. The tornado did significant damage to the roof of a well constructed brick home, removing the majority of the roof. The walls of a brick outbuilding collapsed. There were also numerous trees snapped or uprooted adjacent to the home, two of which were debarked. This damage was consistent with EF2 winds of about 115 mph. Just northeast of the house, an irrigation pivot was toppled with the northern portion falling toward the southwest and the southern portion falling in the opposite direction. The tornado continued northeast across more rural areas causing EF1 damage to trees on County Road 82 before lifting shortly thereafter.

This tornado began in extreme southeastern Barbour near Sandy Creek Drive and then crossed into Henry County, Alabama. The tornado continued northeast and crossed a small sliver of Barbour County before entering Clay County, Georgia.

The tornado touched down in extreme southeastern Barbour County in the White Oak community producing EF1 damage on White Oak Drive. The tornado then crossed Sandy Creek into Henry County's White Oak subdivision producing mostly EF1 damage across the entire width of the neighborhood between Sandy Creek and White Oak Creek. However, a double-wide manufactured home on Laurel Drive was shifted about 8 feet despite being strapped to the ground by 2 to 3 foot anchors which were completely pulled from the ground. This justified EF2 damage in this location with winds estimated at 115 mph. The tornado then crossed the Walter F. George Reservoir, also known as Lake Eufaula, into the state of Georgia with EF1 damage on the eastern shore of the lake along County Road 28. The tornado came ashore at the Quitman-Clay County line producing damage in both counties primarily in the form of uprooted trees. The trees damaged several homes. Debris from a lakeside porch was lofted and deposited on the opposite side of the home and strewn across an adjacent field. The tornado continued northeastward across rural Quitman County hitting the Self Family Farm on Self Road. The tornado did significant damage to the roof of a well constructed brick home, removing the majority of the roof. The walls of a brick outbuilding collapsed. There were also numerous trees snapped or uprooted adjacent to the home, two of which were debarked. This damage was consistent with EF2 winds of about 115 mph. Just northeast of the house, an irrigation pivot was toppled with the northern portion falling toward the southwest and the southern portion falling in the opposite direction. The tornado continued northeast across more rural areas causing EF1 damage to trees on County Road 82 before lifting shortly thereafter.

The tornado touched down in extreme southeastern Barbour County in the White Oak community producing EF1 damage on White Oak Drive. The tornado then crossed Sandy Creek into Henry County's White Oak subdivision producing mostly EF1 damage across the entire width of the neighborhood between Sandy Creek and White Oak Creek. However, a double-wide manufactured home on Laurel Drive was shifted about 8 feet despite being strapped to the ground by 2 to 3 foot anchors which were completely pulled from the ground. This justified EF2 damage in this location with winds estimated at 115 mph. The tornado then crossed the Walter F. George Reservoir, also known as Lake Eufaula, into the state of Georgia with EF1 damage on the eastern shore of the lake along County Road 28. The tornado came ashore at the Quitman-Clay County line producing damage in both counties primarily in the form of uprooted trees. The trees damaged several homes. Debris from a lakeside porch was lofted and deposited on the opposite side of the home and strewn across an adjacent field. The tornado continued northeastward across rural Quitman County hitting the Self Family Farm on Self Road. The tornado did significant damage to the roof of a well constructed brick home, removing the majority of the roof. The walls of a brick outbuilding collapsed. There were also numerous trees snapped or uprooted adjacent to the home, two of which were debarked. This damage was consistent with EF2 winds of about 115 mph. Just northeast of the house, an irrigation pivot was toppled with the northern portion falling toward the southwest and the southern portion falling in the opposite direction. The tornado continued northeast across more rural areas causing EF1 damage to trees on County Road 82 before lifting shortly thereafter.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 11:55 UTC and running to 17:00 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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 12:44 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.

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 2017 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

23 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.