Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2019
EF1 tornado, Whitney to Wattsville, Alabama, March 14, 2019
From Whitney to Wattsville, this EF1 tornado ran 4.7 miles across St. Clair County on March 14, 2019, touching down at 5:54 PM CDT and reaching 530 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.
EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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
- EF1
- Date
- March 14, 2019
- Touchdown
- 5:54 PM CDT (22:54 UTC)
- Lifted
- 6:03 PM CDT (23:03 UTC)
- On the ground
- 9 minutes
- Path length
- 4.7 miles (7.6 km)
- Path width
- 530 yards (485 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- St. Clair County
- Touchdown point
- 33.727, -86.363
- Lift-off point
- 33.732, -86.286
- Record number
- 1903141654-01
The damage survey
110 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.
What the Weather Service recorded
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 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.
The warnings
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 21:13 UTC and running to 23:41 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 08:01 UTC | 23:00 UTC | Wind Advisory | BMX |
| 21:13 UTC | 23:41 UTC | Tornado Watch | BMX |
| 21:53 UTC | 23:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX |
| 22:13 UTC | 22:41 UTC | Tornado Warning | BMX |
| 22:24 UTC | 23:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX |
| 22:56 UTC | 23:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | BMX |
| 23:41 UTC | 05:00 UTC | Tornado Watch | BMX |
| 00:12 UTC | 03:15 UTC | Flood Advisory | BMX |
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 Slight 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 air that afternoon
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.
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 12:00Z
10.9 hours before the tornado, 74 km from the path. March 14, 2019.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -76398 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 822 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 52 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 46 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 522 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 618 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 3.7 K/km
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 74 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:53 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20:56 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Locust Fork | Blount, AL | A FEW TREES BLOWN DOWN NEAR LOCUST FORK. |
| 21:10 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Nnw Hanceville | Cullman, AL | DAMAGE FROM AN EF-1 TORNADO WAS SURVEYED BETWEEN WHITE CITY AND HOLLY POND FROM A SUPERCELL THAT OCCURRED YESTERDAY AFTERNOON. IT WAS ON THE GROUND FOR 20 MINUTES, HAD A MAX WIND SPEED OF 105MPH, MAX WIDTH OF 112 YARDS, |
| 21:18 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Ene Empire | Walker, AL | SEVERAL TREES AND POWER LINES BLOWN DOWN. |
| 21:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 N Hanceville | Cullman, AL | DAMAGE TO THE WHITE CITY COMMUNITY CENTER. POSSIBLE TORNADO. |
| 21:36 UTC | HAIL 0.25 | 1 Nw Blountsville | Blount, AL | |
| 21:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Hayden | Blount, AL | A FEW TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN NEAR HAYDEN. |
| 21:50 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 E Locust Fork | Blount, AL | A FEW TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN AROUND LOCUST FORK. |
| 22:04 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Nw Allgood | Blount, AL | THE TORNADO DAMAGE PATH WAS 2.58 MILES LONG AND WAS 115 YARDS WIDE AT ITS WIDEST POINT. MAXIMUM ESTIMATED WINDS WERE 65 MPH. MANY TREES WERE DAMAGED AND ONE HOME HAD MINOR DAMAGE. |
| 22:04 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Nw Allgood | Blount, AL | THE TORNADO DAMAGE PATH WAS 2.6 MILES LONG AND 115 YARDS WIDE AT ITS WIDEST POINT. MAXIMUM ESTIMATED WINDS WERE 65 MPH. NUMEROUS TREES DAMAGED AND SOME MINOR STRUCTURE DAMAGE. |
| 22:05 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Sw Allgood | Blount, AL | CORRECTS PREVIOUS TORNADO REPORT FROM 2 SW ALLGOOD. THE TORNADO DAMAGE PATH WAS 17.21 MILES LONG AND WAS 1175 YARDS WIDE AT ITS WIDEST POINT. MAXIMUM ESTIMATED WINDS WERE 90 MPH. NUMEROUS TREES WERE DOWNED, MANY MOBILE H |
| 22:07 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Sw Allgood | Blount, AL | THE TORNADO DAMAGE PATH WAS 4.3 MILES LONG AND 600 YARDS WIDE AT ITS WIDEST POINT. MAXIMUM ESTIMATED WINDS WERE 90 MPH. NUMEROUS TREES WERE DOWNED AND MANY MOBILE HOMES WERE HEAVILY DAMAGED FROM FALLEN TREES. SEVERAL HOM |
| 22:07 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Sw Allgood | Blount, AL | THE TORNADO DAMAGE PATH WAS 4.57 MILES LONG AND WAS 600 YARDS WIDE AT ITS WIDEST POINT. MAXIMUM ESTIMATED WINDS WERE 90 MPH. NUMEROUS TREES WERE DOWNED, MANY MOBILE HOMES WERE DAMAGED BY FALLEN TREES, HOMES SUFFERED ROOF |
| 22:13 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Ne Allgood | Blount, AL | STRUCTURAL DAMAGE IN ALLGOOD. POSSIBLE TORNADO. |
| 22:13 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Ese Highland Lake | Blount, AL | TREES DOWN AND OUTBUILDINGS DAMAGED. POSSIBLE TORNADO. |
| 22:16 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 W Holly Pond | Cullman, AL | DAMAGE TO ROOFS AND SIDING OF TWO STORAGE BUILDINGS ON HWY 278 NEAR THE INTERSECTION WITH CR 1682. POSSIBLE TORNADO. |
| 22:47 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Wnw St. Clair Springs | St. Clair, AL | TREES AND POWER LINES WERE BLOWN DOWN. |
| 22:47 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Ssw St. Clair Springs | St. Clair, AL | SEVERAL TREES UPROOTED AND SNAPPED OFF. LOCAL ROADS HAVE BEEN CLOSED DUE TO DAMAGE. POSSIBLE TORNADO. |
| 22:54 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Se St. Clair Springs | St. Clair, AL | THE TORNADO DAMAGE PATH WAS 4.71 MILES LONG AND WAS 530 YARDS WIDE AT ITS WIDEST POINT. MAXIMUM ESTIMATED WINDS WERE 90 MPH. HUNDREDS OF TREES WERE DOWNED, SEVERAL HOMES WERE DAMAGED, AND A CHICKEN HOUSE WAS DAMAGED. |
| 22:55 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Se St. Clair Springs | St. Clair, AL | THE TORNADO DAMAGE PATH WAS 4.40 MILES LONG AND 530 YARDS WIDE AT ITS WIDEST POINT. HUNDREDS OF TREES DOWN, SEVERAL HOMES DAMAGED, AND A CHICKEN HOUSE DAMAGED. |
| 22:56 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Ne Odenville | St. Clair, AL | SEVERAL CHICKEN HOUSES DAMAGED AND TREES DOWN. POSSIBLE TORNADO. |
| 23:02 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Ssw Wilsonia | Etowah, AL | CORRECTS PREVIOUS TSTM WND DMG REPORT FROM 2 SSW WILSONIA FOR DATE. THERE WERE SEVERAL POINTS OF TREE DAMAGE/BROKEN LIMBS EITHER SIDE OF HWY 411 IN THE COATS BEND ROAD AREA. TIME OF OCCURRENCE IS ESTIMATED. |
| 23:18 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 N Neely Henry Dam | St. Clair, AL | SEVERAL TREES DOWN NORTH OF OHATCHEE. |
| 23:22 UTC | TORNADO | 4 N Ohatchee | Calhoun, AL | THE EF-0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ALONG GREENSPORT RD JUST WEST OF COCHRAN SPRINGS RD. IT TRAVELED NORTHEAST AND LIFTED BETWEEN DODD GAP RD AND GREENSPORT RD. DAMAGE CONSISTED MOSTLY OF DOWNED TREES, BUT ONE RESIDENCE SUSTAI |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2019 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of March 14, 2019
31 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 14 | 9:18 AM CDT | EF2 | Carlisle, KY | 16.7 | 300 | 1 | $1.5 million | |
| March 14 | 10:10 AM CDT | EF1 | Union, KY | 9.9 | 125 | 1 | $60,000 | |
| March 14 | 11:14 AM CDT | EF0 | Henderson, KY | 1.3 | 100 | $4,000 | ||
| March 14 | 11:27 AM CDT | EF0 | Graves, KY | 0.7 | 75 | $2,000 | ||
| March 14 | 12:42 PM CDT | EF0 | Henderson, KY | 1.2 | 100 | $8,000 | ||
| March 14 | 2:06 PM EDT | EF1 | Jackson, IN | 1.2 | 40 | $70,000 | ||
| March 14 | 2:14 PM EDT | EF0 | Washington, IN | 3.0 | 35 | $30,000 | ||
| March 14 | 1:15 PM CDT | EF0 | Webster, KY | 2.3 | 50 | $1,000 | ||
| March 14 | 1:51 PM CDT | EF0 | Lake, IN | 1.5 | 75 | |||
| March 14 | 4:10 PM CDT | EF1 | Cullman, AL | 11.1 | 112 | |||
| March 14 | 5:04 PM CDT | EF0 | Blount, AL | 2.6 | 115 | |||
| March 14 | 5:05 PM CDT | EF1 | Blount, AL | 17.2 | 1,175 | |||
| March 14 | 5:25 PM CDT | EF0 | Tuscaloosa, AL | 1.2 | 50 | |||
| March 14 | 6:45 PM EDT | EF2 | Shiawassee, MI | 18.2 | 700 | $9.8 million | ||
| March 14 | 6:47 PM EDT | EF0 | Shiawassee, MI | 6.4 | 100 | $50,000 | ||
| March 14 | 7:09 PM EDT | EF0 | Genesee, MI | 8.1 | 125 | $75,000 | ||
| March 14 | 6:19 PM CDT | EF0 | Perry, AL | 4.5 | 100 | |||
| March 14 | 6:22 PM CDT | EF0 | Calhoun, AL | 1.2 | 200 | |||
| March 14 | 7:24 PM EDT | EF0 | Genesee, MI | 6.5 | 75 | $100,000 | ||
| March 14 | 6:37 PM CDT | EF1 | Perry, AL | 9.4 | 300 | |||
| March 14 | 6:39 PM CDT | EF0 | Marengo, AL | 5.1 | 150 | |||
| March 14 | 8:06 PM EDT | EF0 | Floyd, GA | 1.7 | 150 | $50,000 | ||
| March 14 | 8:11 PM EDT | EF0 | Stark, OH | 8.7 | 50 | $100,000 | ||
| March 14 | 8:23 PM EDT | EF0 | Stark, OH | 1.6 | 100 | $100,000 | ||
| March 14 | 7:27 PM CDT | EF0 | Dallas, AL | 2.9 | 300 | |||
| March 14 | 7:39 PM CDT | EF0 | Chilton, AL | 11.9 | 350 | |||
| March 14 | 8:21 PM CDT | EF0 | Coosa, AL | 0.6 | 40 | |||
| March 14 | 8:44 PM CDT | EF1 | Autauga, AL | 7.1 | 250 | |||
| March 14 | 8:46 PM CDT | EF0 | Coosa, AL | 2.1 | 150 | |||
| March 14 | 9:32 PM CDT | EF2 | Elmore, AL | 8.6 | 650 | |||
| March 14 | 10:00 PM CDT | EF0 | Randolph, AL | 4.4 | 75 |
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.