EF1 tornado, Belgreen to Gravel Hill, Alabama, March 19, 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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF1

Date

March 19, 2018

Touchdown

5:21 PM CDT (22:21 UTC)

Lifted

5:30 PM CDT (22:30 UTC)

On the ground

9 minutes

Path length

2.0 miles (3.3 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Franklin County

Touchdown point

34.499, -87.748

Lift-off point

34.493, -87.713

Record number

1803191621-01

36 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS HUN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 100 mph.

• tornado came across lake. possible start point over the hill. path width around 75-100 yards
• bleachers moved back a few feet
• grain silos overturned and blown 150 yards
• coil of large rubber hose vaulted about 250 yards

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

An isolated supercell produced hail during the early afternoon hours across far northwest and north central Alabama. By mid afternoon, a cluster of supercells developed in northern Mississippi and tracked east-southeast through much of north Alabama through the early evening hours. Two main supercell clusters produced multiple tornadoes and very large hail. Tornadoes ranged in strength from EF-0 to EF-2. The largest hail fell in Cullman County, with widespread and severe damage reported as a result. The largest hail stone reported to the National Weather Service was 5.25 inches in diameter weighing 8.9 ounces.

A tornado touched down along Jacinto Road in the Belgreen community at EF-0 strength, with winds around 70 mph. A grove of softwood Cedar trees were snapped as the tornado crossed into a wooded area and moved east. The tornado further intensified as it approached Auburn Rd. There, a mobile home was sideswiped by the tornado. The roof and siding of the mobile home was partially damaged and the window was blown out. A very large pine tree was uprooted and a barn was completely destroyed. It was here that the tornado likely reached maximum strength of 90 to 100 mph. The tornado descended a steep bluff and crossed a narrow section of Cedar Creek Lake, snapping and uprooting numerous soft and hardwood trees. The tornado likely reached its greatest width at around 100 yards. On the opposite side of the lake, a covered boat slip was completely destroyed. Numerous trees were uprooted and snapped off. The siding and roof of three single family homes was damaged. The tornado weakened as it crossed Hwy 41. It knocked over another grove of cedars and caused EF-0 damage to the siding of a house. The tornado lifted in a heavily forested area along the far eastern edge of Cedar Creek Lake.

The tornado touched down in the Reedtown section of Russellville with EF-0 intensity, containing winds of 65-70 mph. The tornado caused minor roof and siding damage to a few single family homes. The tornado strengthened quickly to low-end EF-1 as it knocked down the chimney of a house and caused more extensive damage to the siding and metal roof of another. The tornado likely reached maximum intensity and width as it crossed Hwy 43 on the south side of Russellville. Here, the tornado was around 200 yards wide, with winds of 90 mph. A Waffle House restaurant had damage to its sign and roof. A warehouse and apartment complex also sustained some minor structural damage. The tornado then moved through a residential section of southeast Russellville, causing significant damage to a grove of pine and cedar trees and completely destroyed a small barn. However, only minor damage occurred at any of the one to two story homes, placing winds in the 80-90 mph range. The tornado then weakened further as it approached Highway 42 east of Russellville and lifted near Sloss Lake Park.

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

23 minutes of warning. NWS HUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:58 UTC, 23 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:28 UTC and running to 00:31 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 20:00 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.

Haleyville (1M4), 27 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 86 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:20 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 2018 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

19 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.