Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2019

EF1 tornado, Searcy, Alabama, March 3, 2019

This EF1 tornado ran 0.3 miles across Butler County on March 3, 2019, touching down at 2:34 PM CST and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $15,000 of property damage.

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.

  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.

The record

Rating
EF1
Date
March 3, 2019
Touchdown
2:34 PM CST (20:34 UTC)
Lifted
2:35 PM CST (20:35 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.3 miles (0.4 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$15,000
County
Butler County
Touchdown point
31.907, -86.480
Lift-off point
31.907, -86.480
Record number
1903031434-01

The damage survey

8 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS MOB, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 90 mph.

  • Uprooted tree fell on mobile home.
  • Softwood trees around the outbuilding also snapped at the trunks.
  • Surrounding softwood trees also snapped near the trunk base.

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 cold front moved into the southeast during day. This front moved into a warm and unstable airmass, causing severe thunderstorms to develop. The storms produced 4 tornadoes in southwest Alabama.

The tornado formed and damaged an outbuilding near the intersection of Kirkville Road and Steiner Store Road before continuing northeast into a wooded area, where numerous trees were snapped and uprooted. The tornado then crossed Kirkville Road and partially lifted the roof off a one story brick home before dissipating shortly thereafter.

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

The warnings

3 minutes of warning. NWS MOB issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:31 UTC, 3 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 17:05 UTC and running to 21:41 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
17:05 UTC21:41 UTCTornado WatchMOB
19:49 UTC20:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOB
20:23 UTC21:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOB
20:31 UTC20:45 UTCTornado WarningMOB
20:53 UTC21:05 UTCTornado WarningMOB

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 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 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

8.6 hours before the tornado, 144 km from the path. March 3, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2019-03-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -82747, lifted condensation level 684 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2019-03-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 155 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 50 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-82747 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
684 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
155 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
144 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
2.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 00:00Z

3.4 hours after it, 144 km from the path. March 4, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2019-03-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2 joules per kilogram, CIN 0, lifted condensation level 502 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2019-03-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -155 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 81 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Surface CAPE
4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
502 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
81 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-155 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-90 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
2.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Greenville (PRN), 14 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
18:43 UTC7064200° 11 kt211007.1-RA
18:56 UTC7164210° 11 kt231007.1-RA
19:05 UTC7164210° 11 kt211006.8-RA
19:31 UTC7065210° 10 kt171006.4-TSRA
19:56 UTC7065220° 11 kt191006.4TSRA
19:59 UTC7065210° 11 kt191006.4TSRA
20:08 UTC7065230° 10 kt171006.4+TSRA
20:21 UTC7065220° 15 kt231006.1+TSRA
20:26 UTC7065250° 17 kt291007.5+TSRA
20:36 UTC6965270° 19 kt311007.8TSRA BR
20:41 UTC6964270° 17 kt311007.8TSRA
20:52 UTC6862.6300° 10 kt191008.1TSRA
20:56 UTC6763300° 10 kt191008.1TSRA BR
21:05 UTC6661290° 8 kt201007.8TSRA
21:13 UTC6661300° 9 kt1008.1-RA
21:46 UTC6359300° 7 kt161008.5-RA
21:56 UTC6358310° 8 kt1008.5-RA
22:30 UTC5954320° 14 kt201008.8-RA

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

The radar

The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 95 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:33 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)ReportWhereCountyRemark
18:50 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDHope HullMontgomery, ALFUNNEL CLOUD CAPTURED ON VIDEO NEAR HOPE HULL.
20:34 UTCTORNADO6 Nnw HonoravilleButler, ALCORRECTS PREVIOUS TSTM WND DMG REPORT FROM 6 NNW HONORAVILLE TO TORNADO. DAMAGE REPORTED TO HOMES AND MULTIPLE TREES DOWN NEAR STEINER STORE ROAD AND SPRING CREEK RD NORTHEAST OF GREENVILLE, AL. POSSIBLE TORNADO. TIME ES
20:35 UTCTSTM WND DMG6 Nnw HonoravilleButler, ALDAMAGE REPORTED TO HOMES AND MULTIPLE TREES DOWN NEAR STEINER STORE ROAD AND SPRING CREEK RD NORTHEAST OF GREENVILLE, AL. POSSIBLE TORNADO. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
20:38 UTCTORNADO5 Nnw HonoravilleCrenshaw, ALSTORM SURVEY TEAM FOUND NUMEROUS TREES SNAPPED AND DAMAGE TO OUTBUILDINGS CONSISTENT WITH EF-1 STRENGTH. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
20:39 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 N HonoravilleCrenshaw, ALDAMAGE REPORTED TO TREES AND STRUCTURES NEAR THE VICINITY OF BOWDEN ROAD. POSSIBLE TORNADO. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
20:40 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 N HonoravilleCrenshaw, ALDAMAGE REPORTED TO TREES AND STRUCTURES NEAR THE VICINITY OF WHITE ROAD. POSSIBLE TORNADO. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.

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 3, 2019

44 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 312:55 PM CSTEF1Washington, AL0.2300$10,000
March 31:19 PM CSTEF0Autauga, AL0.670
March 31:37 PM CSTEF1Washington, AL2.6100$50,000
March 32:00 PM CSTEF4Beauregard tornado, AL68.01,6002390$1.8 million
March 33:15 PM ESTEF2Peach, GA6.74201$200,000
March 32:27 PM CSTEF2Macon, AL29.11,3001
March 33:36 PM ESTEF0Bibb, GA1.1150$100,000
March 32:38 PM CSTEF1Crenshaw, AL2.650$15,000
March 33:42 PM ESTEF1Twiggs, GA1.1300$50,000
March 34:05 PM ESTEF0Telfair, GA4.0150$50,000
March 34:09 PM ESTEF0Telfair, GA0.4100$30,000
March 33:15 PM CSTEF0Bullock, AL0.450
March 34:18 PM ESTEF1Wilkinson, GA3.1630$45,000
March 34:18 PM ESTEF0Taylor, GA6.6630$25,000
March 34:19 PM ESTEF1Harris, GA7.4900$150,000
March 34:24 PM ESTEF1Washington, GA0.6200$50,000
March 34:30 PM ESTEF0Jeff Davis, GA0.025
March 34:36 PM ESTEF1Washington, GA1.4290$35,000
March 34:43 PM ESTEF0Peach, GA6.4300$95,000
March 33:45 PM CSTEF2Barbour, AL6.7700
March 34:55 PM ESTEF1Washington, GA0.285$50,000
March 33:58 PM CSTEF2Quitman, AL to GA30.9860$415,000
March 35:22 PM ESTEF0Wayne, GA0.350
March 34:28 PM CSTEF0Walton, FL11.9400
March 34:39 PM CSTEF0Clay, AL to GA10.875$10,000
March 35:44 PM ESTEF2Columbia, GA1.5100
March 34:51 PM CSTEF1Geneva, AL5.1300$100,000
March 35:53 PM ESTEF2Edgefield, SC5.02007
March 36:03 PM ESTEF0Orangeburg, SC0.225
March 36:30 PM ESTEF1Aiken, SC0.4150$2,000
March 35:33 PM CSTEF1Washington, FL5.3300$105,000
March 36:53 PM ESTEF1Lexington, SC10.8100
March 36:58 PM ESTEF1Liberty, GA7.8350
March 37:02 PM ESTEF1Miller, GA4.11501$200,000
March 37:13 PM ESTEF1Lexington, SC1.950
March 37:13 PM ESTEF1Richland, SC1.5150
March 37:18 PM ESTEF1Decatur, GA4.5150$20,000
March 37:33 PM ESTEF1Richland, SC0.6200
March 37:41 PM ESTEF1Gadsden, FL2.1275$50,000
March 37:45 PM ESTEF1Tift, GA0.7180$50,000
March 37:54 PM ESTEF2Grady, GA2.78002$1.0 million
March 38:06 PM ESTEF0Wakulla, FL18.4300$5,000
March 38:18 PM ESTEF3Leon, FL8.8700$500,000
March 38:42 PM ESTEF0Wakulla, FL0.750

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.