EF0 tornado, Spring Hill to Banks, Alabama, August 30, 2021

1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

   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 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

EF0

Date

August 30, 2021

Touchdown

2:02 PM CDT (19:02 UTC)

Lifted

2:09 PM CDT (19:09 UTC)

On the ground

7 minutes

Path length

3.2 miles (5.1 km)

Path width

75 yards (69 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Pike County

Touchdown point

31.727, -85.911

Lift-off point

31.767, -85.891

Record number

2108301302-01

4 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS BMX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 61 mph.

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

The remnants of Tropical Cyclone Ida traveled across portions of the Deep South on Monday, August 30th, and into Tuesday, August 31st. Bands of tropical downpours and thunderstorms moved northward across Central Alabama on the east of Ida`s circulation. It was in this general area where instability and low-level wind shear values were sufficient for a few rotating thunderstorms. Two EF0 tornadoes were confirmed across the southeast portions of Central Alabama on August 30th. The combination of heavy rain and breezy conditions also downed some trees in several counties on August 31st.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in southern Pike County and determined that it was consistent with an EF0 tornado, with maximum winds near 65 mph.||The tornado touched down near White Water Creek Road and traveled northeast while knocking down a few trees and tree limbs. The tornado then turned northward and crossed Highway 231 where video footage of the tornado was taken. The tornado lifted near Parron Church Road.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:25 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 Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 53 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:59 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 2021 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

10 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.