Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2017

EF0 tornado, Parker Spgs, Alabama, June 21, 2017

This EF0 tornado ran 0.8 miles across Escambia County on June 21, 2017, touching down at 3:08 PM CDT and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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.

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

    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 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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
June 21, 2017
Touchdown
3:08 PM CDT (20:08 UTC)
Lifted
3:09 PM CDT (20:09 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.8 miles (1.4 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Escambia County
Touchdown point
31.056, -86.808
Lift-off point
31.068, -86.812
Record number
1706211408-01

The damage survey

2 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS MOB, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 75 mph.

  • a few pines snapped, possibly diseased

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

Tropical Storm Cindy first developed in the central Gulf of Mexico on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 20th and made landfall between Cameron, LA and Port Arthur, TX during the early morning hours of Thursday, June 22nd. Despite the center of the storm being far removed from the north central Gulf Coast, the effects of Cindy extended several hundred miles to the east of the center and impacted the local area starting late Tuesday and persisting through the end of the week.||The primary impact across southwest and south central Alabama was from heavy rain and flooding. The highest storm total observed was in Thomasville, AL which measured 11.37 of rain ending Friday night, June 23rd. Numerous locations across south central and southwest Alabama recorded 5 to 10 inches of rain. The heavy rain resulted in numerous instances of flash flooding and minor to moderate river flooding. ||Coastal flooding also impacted Mobile and Baldwin Counties, particularly in the typical low lying locations. Tidal gauges indicate the maximum inundation was around 3 feet MHHW in the north end of Mobile Bay. ||Four tornadoes occurred in southern Alabama during Cindy, 3 EF-0 and 1 EF-1. ||Two fatalities occurred, one due to high surf and one due to rip currents.

A brief tornado touchdown occurred in the Conecuh National Forest. The first observed point of damage was on Beaver Creek Road just south of Bradley Road. The tornado may have started farther to the southeast, but that area was not accessible. The tornado tracked northwest across Bradley Road and lifted. Tree damage was observed|along the path. The tornado was rated an EF-0 with estimated peak winds of 75 mph.

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

The warnings

24 minutes of warning. NWS MOB issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:44 UTC, 24 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:14 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 15:02 UTC and running to 23:51 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
15:02 UTC23:51 UTCTornado WatchMOB
15:14 UTC21:00 UTCFlood AdvisoryMOB
16:06 UTC20:50 UTCFlash Flood WarningMOB
17:05 UTC23:00 UTCFlash Flood WarningMOB
17:35 UTC17:30 UTCFlood WarningMOB
19:44 UTC20:14 UTCTornado WarningMOB
21:17 UTC22:00 UTCTornado WarningMOB
21:21 UTC13:49 UTCFlood WarningMOB
22:51 UTC04:45 UTCFlash Flood WarningMOB
23:00 UTC15:15 UTCFlood WarningMOB
23:51 UTC07:59 UTCTornado WatchMOB
00:41 UTC01:20 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOB
04:26 UTC10:05 UTCFlood WarningMOB

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 Marginal Risk, with a 0.02 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 surface observations

Crestview/Bob Sikes (CEW), 42 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
18:10 UTC100° 6 kt1014.9
18:15 UTC100° 5 kt1014.9
18:16 UTC7876 6 kt1014.9
18:20 UTC100° 5 kt1014.9
18:25 UTC110° 4 kt1014.9
18:30 UTC120° 6 kt1014.9
18:35 UTC110° 7 kt1014.6
18:40 UTC120° 8 kt1014.6
18:45 UTC7976110° 6 kt1014.6
18:50 UTC120° 6 kt1014.9
18:53 UTC7976110° 6 kt1014.9
18:55 UTC120° 6 kt1014.9
19:00 UTC120° 7 kt1014.9
19:05 UTC110° 7 kt1014.9
19:10 UTC120° 8 kt1014.6-RA
19:15 UTC110° 8 kt1014.6-RA
19:20 UTC100° 8 kt1014.6
19:25 UTC110° 8 kt1014.6
19:30 UTC8076110° 10 kt161014.6
19:35 UTC130° 6 kt1014.6
19:40 UTC120° 7 kt1014.6
19:45 UTC120° 6 kt1014.6
19:50 UTC120° 7 kt1014.6
19:53 UTC8077110° 5 kt1014.6
19:55 UTC120° 6 kt1014.6
20:00 UTC100° 5 kt1014.6
20:05 UTC120° 5 kt1014.6-RA
20:10 UTC110° 5 kt1014.6-RA
20:15 UTC110° 5 kt1014.2-RA
20:16 UTC8177110° 6 kt1014.2-RA
20:20 UTC130° 7 kt1014.2
20:25 UTC110° 6 kt1014.2
20:30 UTC110° 8 kt1014.2
20:35 UTC120° 7 kt1014.2
20:36 UTC8277120° 7 kt1014.2
20:40 UTC130° 6 kt1013.9
20:45 UTC130° 8 kt1013.9
20:50 UTC110° 8 kt1013.9
20:53 UTC8277120° 6 kt1013.9
20:55 UTC120° 6 kt1013.9
21:00 UTC130° 9 kt1013.9
21:05 UTC120° 7 kt1013.9
21:06 UTC8377120° 7 kt1013.9
21:10 UTC130° 8 kt1013.5
21:15 UTC120° 9 kt1013.5
21:20 UTC120° 7 kt1013.9
21:25 UTC130° 9 kt1013.5
21:30 UTC120° 11 kt161013.5
21:35 UTC130° 8 kt1013.5
21:40 UTC130° 6 kt1013.2
21:45 UTC120° 10 kt151013.2
21:50 UTC130° 9 kt1013.2
21:53 UTC8475130° 12 kt201013.2
21:55 UTC140° 13 kt1013.2
22:00 UTC130° 12 kt191013.5
22:05 UTC140° 11 kt1013.5

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 101 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:07 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)ReportWhereCountyRemark
17:40 UTCFLASH FLOODBrewtonEscambia, ALPORTIONS OF BREWTON NEAR MURDER AND BURNT CORN CREEKS ARE UNDERWATER WITH LEVELS RISING QUICKLY.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2017 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 21, 2017

8 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 216:18 AM CDTEF0Okaloosa, FL2.575$40,000
June 218:25 AM CDTEF0Harrison, MS4.275
June 2112:55 PM CDTEF0Saint John the Baptist Parish, LA1.950
June 213:02 PM CDTEF0Baldwin, AL0.125
June 216:24 PM CDTEF0Wilkin, MN0.575
June 216:39 PM CDTEF0Wilkin, MN1.3100
June 216:57 PM CDTEF1Covington, AL4.875$50,000
June 218:35 PM CDTEF0Clarke, AL0.125$25,000

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.