EF2 tornado, Union Grove, Alabama, January 11, 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 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

January 11, 2020

Touchdown

1:19 PM CST (19:19 UTC)

Lifted

1:24 PM CST (19:24 UTC)

On the ground

5 minutes

Path length

0.2 miles (0.4 km)

Path width

150 yards (137 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Marshall County

Touchdown point

34.397, -86.447

Lift-off point

34.401, -86.446

Record number

2001111319-01

14 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS HUN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 120 mph.

• metal bolts pulled up and beam bent
• Width point. Landing spot of bleachers from ball field. Width of 150 yards.
• Width point, bleachers flung from this point NW to the school. Width of 150 yards.

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

A long-lived quasi-linear convective system moved into northwest Alabama between 6 and 9 AM, and gradually tracked east across the remainder of north Alabama through the midday and early afternoon hours. In advance of the line, strong southerly winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts over 45 mph were reported. In some cases, trees and power lines were knocked down with these non-thunderstorm winds. The line of thunderstorms yielded numerous reports of thunderstorm wind damage, including trees and power lines being knocked down, along with some structural damage. A few weather stations measured wind gusts of 58 mph or higher as well. Storm surveys revealed 3 separate tornadoes: 1 EF0 and 1 EF1 in Cullman County, and 1 EF2 in Marshall County. Intense rainfall in a short period of time resulted in a few reports of brief flash flooding in northwest Alabama.

The tornado initially touched down just south west of Brindlee Mountain Primary School. At this location, the school gymnasium, 10 classrooms, and the cafeteria were destroyed. Numerous beams in the roof of the gym were also twisted and bent, and large bolts used to attach it to the foundation were ripped from the structure. EF2 tornado damage was determined at this location, with wind speeds 120 mph. In addition to damage to the school, several trees were snapped or uprooted at this location near the ballfield. A set of bleachers was hurled over 150 yards from one side of the school to the other. Several dumpsters were displaced as well, along with three or four power poles snapped at their |bases. This lead to additional damage at the school property when the poles fell on the school awning and roof. Little to no additional tornado damage was noted to the northeast of the school, aside from roofing materials strewn from the damage at the primary school itself. The tornado ended as it crossed Union Grove Road west of the Union Grove Fire Station.

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

12 minutes of warning. NWS HUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:07 UTC, 12 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 19:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:51 UTC and running to 20:30 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 16:28 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.

Albertville (BFZ), 26 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 68 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:32 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 2020 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

62 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 63 of them

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.