EF1 tornado, Kirkland Crossroads to Miller, Alabama, April 19, 2020

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

April 19, 2020

Touchdown

11:45 PM CDT (04:45 UTC)

Lifted

11:48 PM CDT (04:48 UTC)

On the ground

3 minutes

Path length

1.5 miles (2.4 km)

Path width

500 yards (457 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$250,000

County

Henry County

Touchdown point

31.401, -85.214

Lift-off point

31.410, -85.192

Record number

2004192245-01

50 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TAE, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 125 mph.

• Branches down - from Henry County SO video
• Shed destroyed per SO video
• Roof off building. From Henry County SO video.
• Trees down per Henry County SO video.

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

A potent upper trough moved across the southeast states with numerous severe storms, including widespread wind damage and tornadoes. The tri-state area was under an enhanced to moderate risk of severe storms from the Storm Prediction Center. Some of the tornadoes were significant and rated EF2. Unfortunately, one fatality occurred in southeast Alabama.

An EF1 tornado touched down in Ozark and tracked east into Henry county. Max winds were estimated at 105 mph. Most of the damage was snapped trees and some roof damage in Ozark.

Tornado touched down just west of County Road 15 in Henry County, Alabama. The tornado continued northeast through the town of Tumbleton, damaging several single family homes. The tornado destroyed a double wide mobile home northeast of Tumbleton, leading to one fatality. The peak damage was noted from Tumbleton|to the mobile home, with winds estimated at 125 mph. The tornado continued northeast, damaging another single family home and outbuildings. The tornado lifted near County Road 53. Special thanks to Henry County Emergency Management and the Henry County Sheriff's Office for providing damage information and aerial imagery.

Tornado touched down along Camp Springs Road, near County Road 131. A single family home was damaged and an automotive shop was destroyed at County Road 121. The tornado continued northeast, causing scattered tree damage before lifting near County Road 53 after damaging an additional structure. This tornado was rated EF1 with max winds near 110 mph.

Damage from this tornado was primarily confined to snapped trees consistent with an EF1 tornado with max winds estimated at 95 mph. Roof damage to a double wide manufactured home occurred on Field Road.

The deaths

1 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

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

16 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 04:29 UTC, 16 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:56 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 03:13 UTC and running to 06:33 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 01:01 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.

Dothan Municipal (DHN), 25 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

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 2020 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

20 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.