EF2 tornado, Union Chapel to Carrollton, 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

11:11 AM CST (17:11 UTC)

Lifted

11:20 AM CST (17:20 UTC)

On the ground

9 minutes

Path length

6.3 miles (10.2 km)

Path width

1,056 yards (966 m)

Deaths

3

Injuries

7

County

Pickens County

Touchdown point

33.238, -88.154

Lift-off point

33.325, -88.122

Record number

2001111111-01

57 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS BMX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 135 mph.

• Manufactured home appears to be properly anchored. Straps snapped with anchors still in ground
• Manufactured home completely destroyed. Frame found approx 100yds NE in pieces.
• Walls attached to foundation in wood
• Left side. Home minor damage, metal carport lifted

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

A dynamic storm system brought severe thunderstorms to a large part of Central Alabama on January 11th. Deep southerly flow brought rich Gulf moisture northward into Alabama. Anomalously high surface temperatures and moisture content was present in the developing warm sector ahead of the storm system. A line of strong to severe thunderstorms developed ahead of a cold front and moved into west central Alabama late in the morning. The line of storms quickly moved through Central Alabama and exited southeastern areas around sunset.||Although not every location experienced severe weather, widespread wind gusts of 40 to 60 mph were observed along the QLCS. Trees were snapped off or uprooted in numerous locations. Many homes, automobiles, and outbuildings were damaged or destroyed. Several locations likely received straight-line wind gusts of 75 to 80 mph.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northern Pickens County and determined that it was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum sustained winds near 134 mph.||A tornado touched down south of Highway 86, just on the south side of Coleman Road. The tornado tracked northeast and crossed Highway 86. Along Highway 86, there were at least three homes damaged with one home losing most of its roofing. Numerous hardwood and softwood trees were snapped off or uprooted at this location. The tornado continued northeast across Turnipseed Road, causing significant tree damage. The tornado tracked along Settlement Road where it likely reached its peak intensity. Numerous homes were damaged or destroyed on the west side of Settlement Road, while homes on the east side sustained minor damage. Of the homes destroyed, six were site-built homes. Four manufactured homes were completely destroyed, three of which had anchoring systems that failed. All four manufactured home frames were found considerable distances from the home sites. Three fatalities occurred in two of these manufactured homes on Settlement Road. In addition, all of the injuries were also on Settlement Road. The tornado continued through a forest and crossed Pine Grove Road near McDaniel Road. The farm at this location sustained significant damage with a home and at least two barns heavily damaged. Numerous hardwood and softwood trees were uprooted or snapped as well. From here, the tornado continued northeastward and began to weaken. It crossed Pearson Road, uprooting several trees before dissipating north of Pearson Road and west of Phoenix Road. At least 22 homes suffered varying degrees of damage.

The deaths

3 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.

10 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 17:01 UTC, 10 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 17:43 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 14:00 UTC and running to 18:04 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.

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 71 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 17:08 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.