EF2 tornado, Caldwell to Rabbittown, 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 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

March 19, 2018

Touchdown

8:02 PM CDT (01:02 UTC)

Lifted

8:23 PM CDT (01:23 UTC)

On the ground

21 minutes

Path length

15.7 miles (25.3 km)

Path width

2,000 yards (1829 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

1

Counties

St. Clair, Etowah and Calhoun counties

Touchdown point

33.855, -86.240

Lift-off point

33.881, -85.969

Record number

1803191902-01

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

• trees pointed north and southeast. near center
• possible RFD damage, no splatter
• Pointing north. Trees on a home
• Numerous Hardwoods snapped

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

Six tornadoes and hail up to 3 inches in diameter affected the northern areas of Central Alabama on the afternoon and evening hours of March 19th, with a rare PDS (Particularly Dangerous Situation) Tornado Watch issued for a large portion of Central Alabama. An environment favorable for significant severe thunderstorms developed as a low-amplitude upper-level trough moved into the region with a deepening surface low passing across far north Alabama. These two features resulted in a deep column of strong wind shear with 0-6km Bulk Shear values of 60-70 knots. Additionally, moist southerly flow, warm surface temperatures, and colder temperatures aloft yielded a moderately unstable air mass. Initially, thunderstorms were producing large to very large hail. However, the tornado threat increased in the late afternoon and evening hours as wind speeds at low levels increased with the arrival of a low-level jet.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northern St. Clair County and determined that the damage was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum sustained winds near 90 mph. This tornado began just west of the St. Clair/Blount County line near Jones Chapel Loop Road. The tornado crossed Blount Mountain along Walker Gap Road and crossed Crawford Cove Road near Highway 11. Trees in this area were mainly uprooted with only a few snapped off. The tornado continued eastbound and eventually lifted near the Interstate 59 rest area just south of the Ashville exit. The majority of the damage was due to trees falling on structures and power lines.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northern St. Clair County and determined that the damage was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum sustained winds near 115 mph. The tornado touched down just northeast of Ashville along Highway 411. The tornado continued east northeast and uprooted and snapped numerous pine trees. The tornado intensified as it approached the Etowah County line where structural damage became evident. One house was moved off its foundation with a complete loss of roofing materials. Stands of trees were snapped off near their bases, including both hardwoods and softwoods. The tornado then crossed Neely Henry Lake and into Etowah County.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northern southern Etowah County and determined that the damage was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum sustained winds near 120 mph. This tornado began in St. Clair County and crossed into Etowah County at Neely Henry Lake. The tornado crossed Highway 77 near Leota Road where numerous trees were either snapped off or uprooted and several structures were damaged by falling trees. The tornado continued east where it narrowed and further intensified as it approached Green Valley Road. The most intense damage was observed along Green Valley Road and Matt Smith Road where several homes suffered complete loss of roofing material and exterior walls. The tornado continued eastward several miles and weakened as it entered Calhoun County.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northwest Calhoun County and determined that the damage was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum sustained winds near 100 mph. This tornado began in eastern St. Clair County and crossed through all of Etowah County before entering Calhoun County. The tornado entered Calhoun County near the intersection of Harrell Gap Road and Gilbert's Ferry Road. The tornado continued east for about one mile where several trees were snapped and uprooted before dissipating near Oak Grove Road.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northern Calhoun Calhoun County and determined that the damage was consistent with an EF3 tornado, with maximum sustained winds near 150 mph. The tornado first touched down west of US Highway 431 north of town of Wellington, where it rapidly intensified and widened. It snapped and uprooted numerous trees along US Highway 431. Several homes were damaged by the falling trees. The tornado proceeded eastward across Websters Road and Broughton Road with scattered tree damage. As the tornado crossed Old Sulphur Springs Road, two homes were damaged with scores of trees snapped or uprooted. At Angel Station Road, the tornado filled the valley from one side to the other and caused extensive tree and home damage. An electrical transmission tower line was toppled at this point, but it was believed that flying debris compromised the structure. The tornado continued eastward and destroyed the sanctuary at West Point Baptist Church. Additional structures were severely damaged at the church. The tornado entered the City of Jacksonville where it gained strength into the EF3 category, with winds around 140 mph. It removed most of the roof and the top floor of two buildings in an apartment complex. The tornado affected the entire campus of Jacksonville State University. Several buildings sustained significant damage. The most intense winds remained north of the campus however, mowing down trees and causing direct damage to homes. As the tornado crossed Highway 21, it caused caused major damage to the Merrill Building. It then moved into a highly populated zone, where scores of homes suffered major damage and rendered uninhabitable. The tornado maintained its strength as it crossed Choccolocco Mountain, and winds funneled up the valley uprooting or snapping trees. It caused major damage to a number of homes on the mountainside. Damaged continued all the way up to just south of the peak of the mountain. As the tornado moved down the eastern side of Choccolocco Mountain, it narrowed substantially and became stronger once it reached the valley below. Stands of trees were wiped out with trunks snapped relatively close to ground level. Perhaps the most intense damage along the entire track occurred along Hollingsworth Road, where a site built home was completely destroyed with only a portion of one interior wall left standing. Debris from this home was blown downstream across a field with some evidence of wind rowing. Hay bales adjacent to the home, estimated at 800 pounds each, were thrown up to 300 yards to the east. Maximum winds at this location were estimated at 150 mph. The tornado continued east-southeast and downed thousands of trees in the Talladega National Forest and crossed into Cleburne County just south of County Road 534.

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. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:29 UTC and running to 05:00 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 00:57 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.

Gadsden Municipal (Awos) (GAD), 12 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 99 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:02 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 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.