EF2 tornado, Batesville to Eufaula Weedon Arpt, Alabama, March 3, 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 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 3, 2019

Touchdown

3:45 PM CST (21:45 UTC)

Lifted

3:55 PM CST (21:55 UTC)

On the ground

10 minutes

Path length

6.7 miles (10.7 km)

Path width

700 yards (640 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Barbour County

Touchdown point

31.965, -85.339

Lift-off point

31.951, -85.228

Record number

1903031545-01

81 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS BMX and NWS FFC, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 132 mph.

• Numerous pine trees snapped and uprooted both sides of highway.
• A lot of snaps and uproots.
• Extensive tree damage: trees snapped, uprooted, and laid over. 1 tree was 1.5-2 feet in diameter.
• Crossed over the river into GA

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

On the morning of Sunday March 3rd, 2019, an upper-level disturbance moved eastward from the Southern Plains into the southern Gulf Coast States. As favorable upper-level support and deep-layer forcing approached the lower Mississippi River Valley, a surface low pressure developed and moved northeastward into Central Alabama by late morning. Ahead of this surface low, a warm front initially along the Florida Panhandle moved northward allowing for the transport of warm, moist unstable air into southern and southeastern Central Alabama. This frontal boundary eventually became more stationary and stalled out north of the I-85 corridor as the strengthening surface low moved eastward. During this time, a large area of elevated thunderstorms affected portions northern Central Alabama while supercell thunderstorms initiated across the favorable warm sector. As these supercells intensified during the afternoon, parameters became favorable for tornadic thunderstorms in an area along and south of the I-85 corridor.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in Barbour County and determined that it was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum sustained winds near 115 mph.||A tornado touched down near Mary C Smith Road, just north of County Road 79. The initial damage was limited to trees being snapped and uprooted. The tornado tracked eastward and crossed County Road 79 and Reverend Crawford Road. Once again, there were numerous trees snapped and uprooted in these areas. The most significant damage occurred just east of Reverend Crawford Road, where all trees in a large area were completely mowed down. Additionally, a large wooden double power pole was also knocked down. At this point, the tornado turned slightly to the right, eventually lifting just east of Lee Clayton Road. Hundreds of additional trees were snapped and uprooted.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in Barbour County and determined that it was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum sustained winds near 130 mph.||A tornado touched down about 4 miles north of the city of Eufaula, near the end of Hidden Acres Road. At this initial point, several trees were knocked down and a few outbuildings were damaged. The tornado tracked east and crossed County Road 97, snapping or uprooting numerous trees. A few mobile homes suffered damaged, and a few homes suffered some roof damage. The tornado then entered the Weedon Field Airport complex. This is where the most extensive damage occurred. Numerous trees around the complex were snapped and uprooted. One home suffered damage, several metal structure buildings were completely destroyed, and several airplanes were damaged or destroyed, and the Eufaula ASOS was destroyed. The tornado continued eastward and weakened slightly after crossing US Highway 431. The tornado damaged a few buildings and uprooted trees along Roseland Drive. The tornado then crossed the Chattahoochee River and into Georgia.

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

30 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:15 UTC, 30 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 17:05 UTC and running to 22:26 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 0.10 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.

The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 58 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:43 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

44 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.