EF1 tornado, Allgood to Wattsville, Alabama, March 14, 2019

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 14, 2019

Touchdown

5:05 PM CDT (22:05 UTC)

Lifted

5:29 PM CDT (22:29 UTC)

On the ground

24 minutes

Path length

17.2 miles (27.7 km)

Path width

1,175 yards (1074 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Blount, St. Clair and Etowah counties

Touchdown point

33.892, -86.541

Lift-off point

33.978, -86.269

Record number

1903141605-01

117 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS BMX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 94 mph.

• unachored outbuilding rolled. House had broken windows on front and minor roof damage.
• front porch roof with swing attached flipped on roof
• Damage to four different farm structures at this location.
• Possibly hundreds of trees snapped and uprooted along road, moving northeastward into forested area.

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

A widespread severe weather event occurred across central Alabama aduring the afternoon and evening hours on Thursday, March 14th. The event began in the northwest counties and spread eastward all the way to the Georgia state line. A strong low level jet of 40-50 knots, combined with moderate instability (1000-1500 J/kg) and 0-6km bulk shear of 55-50 knots, produced an atmosphere favorable for severe thunderstorms and supercells.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in Blount County and determined that it was consistent with an EF0 tornado, with maximum sustained winds near 65 mph.||The tornado touched down along Tim King Road with several soft and hardwood trees uprooted. It tracked northeast and into a valley region. Many locations throughout the valley were inaccessible due to the terrain. The tornado moved into slightly higher ground as it lifted before reaching Sawyer Mountain Road, with additional tree damage and damage to a porch structure on a well-built single family home.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in Blount County and determined that it was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum sustained winds near 90 mph.||The tornado touched down near Tidwell Hollow Rd where several soft and hardwood trees were damaged and uprooted. The tornado tracked northeast along Tidwell Hollow Rd crossing Lake Drive. It then crossed over a mobile home park where additional trees were uprooted and numerous mobile homes were severely damaged or destroyed from falling trees. It is noteworthy that nearly all of the mobile homes and several vehicles damaged were due to uprooted trees and not direct wind damage. The tornado continued northeast along Highway 75, where an outdoor building was completely destroyed. The tornado then crossed Boat Landing Road where numerous soft and hardwood trees were snapped or uprooted. This is the approximate location of where the tornado first reached EF1 intensity. The tornado then continued east along Springville Blvd., where additional trees were uprooted and several single family homes sustained minor roof damage. A destroyed barn was also observed near Old Brook Lane. The tornado continued eastward and weakened near Woodard Drive where additional trees were uprooted. Farther east-northeastward, more damage from the tornado was observed from a second survey team. Most of the damage throughout the remainder of the track was non-contiguous and primarily affected trees and vegetation. The tornado crossed into Etowah County near Blakely Road.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in Etowah County and determined that it was consistent with an EF0 tornado, with maximum sustained winds near 75 mph.||This tornado is a continuation of a track from Blount County. Most of the damage throughout Etowah County was non-contiguous and primarily affected trees and vegetation. However, minor roof and structural damage was observed along Mountain View Church Road and Mountain Ridge Road. The tornado crossed into St. Clair County just east of Cliff Springs Road.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in St. Clair County and determined that it was consistent with an EF0 tornado, with maximum sustained winds near 75 mph.||This tornado is a continuation of a track from Etowah County. The tornado crossed into St. Clair County just east of Cliff Springs Road and took a sharp turn towards the northwest when it crossed Gallant Road. The tornado then lifted near the intersection of Gallant Road and Clear Springs Drive. Damage in St. Clair County consisted of mainly uprooted softwood trees. The tornado lifted near the intersection of Gallant Road and Clear Springs Drive.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in St. Clair County and determined that it was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum sustained winds near 90 mph.||The tornado touched down near St. Clair Road, about one-half mile northwest of Highway 411. The tornado damaged a few chicken houses and uprooted some trees at its onset. The tornado tracked northeast and produced widespread damage around Friendship Lane and Friendship Mountain Road. Hundreds of trees were snapped off and uprooted, and a few homes suffered roof damage from fallen trees. Several outbuildings were destroyed and several roads were blocked by downed trees. The tornado moved east northeast over the mountain and produced widespread damage along County Road 22. Hundreds of trees were uprooted, a few structures were damaged from fallen trees, and outbuildings were damaged. The tornado then turned towards the east southeast and lifted near US Highway 231.

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

7 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:58 UTC, 7 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 21:13 UTC and running to 00:00 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:55 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.

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 91 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:06 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 2019 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

31 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.