EF2 tornado, Jones Chapel, Alabama, June 22, 2018

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

June 22, 2018

Touchdown

6:46 PM CDT (23:46 UTC)

Lifted

7:12 PM CDT (00:12 UTC)

On the ground

26 minutes

Path length

7.0 miles (11.3 km)

Path width

260 yards (238 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

3

Counties

Winston and Cullman counties

Touchdown point

34.242, -87.134

Lift-off point

34.250, -87.014

Record number

1806221746-01

11 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS BMX and NWS HUN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 85 mph.

• Tornado crossed into Culman County
• tin peeled back on abandoned barn
• couple trees snapped, only given ef0 rating due to no damage to neighboring trees

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

A supercell tracked east along the far northern part of north Alabama near the state line during the early afternoon. This cell produced wall clouds, a couple of funnel clouds, localized wind damage and at least one report of penny sized hail.||Later that evening, supercells produced an EF-2 tornado in Cullman County and an EF-1 tornado in Jackson County as seen on video.

As the tornado crossed from Winston into Cullman County, the tornado likely lifted shortly after crossing CR 1069 and producing minor limb damage. The tornado likely touched down again west of the CR 1055 and CR 1082 intersection. Extensive tree damage was observed. Numerous trees were either uprooted or snapped as the tornado tracked through a depression on the north side of CR 1055. Intensity was documented as 90 mph (EF-1) as it approached CR 1082. At this point, the tornado likely lifted again as it moved east of CR 1082 with only minor limb damage observed through Sullivan Creek.||Peak intensity of the tornado was observed along CR 1091, west of CR 1114. A one year old manufactured home was completely destroyed as it broke away from its anchors, causing 3 injuries. The home was perpendicular to the winds, facing due west. It was displaced about 20 yards from its original location. Three of four corner anchor units were ripped from the ground. The fourth remained lodged in ground but the metal strap was ripped from the I-Beam. It is worth noting that the anchors were approximately 2-3 feet into the ground, and were strapped to the I-Beam (from what could be observed). However, given the highly saturated, muddy soil, the anchors were pulled out as the home tipped backwards. Given this potential failure, winds were estimated at 130 mph (EF-2), or slightly above the expected value for a completely destroyed manufactured home. Additionally, near this location, several trees were uprooted. Peak width of approximately 180 yards were also documented in this area.||As the tornado tracked east, another area of downed branches and uprooted trees were noted east of CR 1107. This was the final location of observed damage as the tornado likely lifted and eventually dissipated along CR 1114.

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.

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:43 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 2018 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

6 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.