EF3 Fultondale tornado, Alabama, January 25, 2021

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 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 mphthis tornado

   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

EF3

Date

January 25, 2021

Touchdown

10:40 PM CST (04:40 UTC)

Lifted

10:55 PM CST (04:55 UTC)

On the ground

15 minutes

Path length

10.4 miles (16.7 km)

Path width

900 yards (823 m)

Deaths

1

Injuries

30

County

Jefferson County

Touchdown point

33.596, -86.826

Lift-off point

33.660, -86.668

Record number

2101252240-01

266 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS BMX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF3. The highest wind the damage implies is 152 mph.

• Likely start point, minor shingle damage to roofs
• Poles snapped and trees down
• Fulton dale Village Apts, power poles snapped
• Slab swept clean with lower construction quality.

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

A unusually warm and humid airmass was present across Central Alabama the night of January 25th due to persistent and deep south to southwest low level flow. Surface dew points were in the low to mid 60s and surface-based instability reached 1000-1200 J/kg. Strong shear over a deep layer was also in place and combined with the instability, favored a risk for severe storms.||The storm that produced the tornado over Jefferson County developed over Central Mississippi. As the storm moved across Mississippi and into West Alabama, it exhibited episodes of mid level rotation, but not strong enough to produce a tornado. As the storm entered Jefferson County, its structure underwent organization. A rotational signature quickly matured, with an associated BWER signature on KBMX radar. A strong tornado formed just north of the city of Birmingham.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northern Jefferson County and determined that it was consistent with an EF3 tornado, with maximum winds near 150 mph. The tornado began along Chapel Hills Parkway, where minor shingle damage occurred. The tornado tracked northeastward across Ellard Road and directly over the Walker Chapel Road overpass on Interstate 65. It was at this interstate exit where the tornado began to intensify rapidly, snapping numerous power poles and causing substantial damage to a hotel. The tornado continued northeastward, crossing Highway 31, causing mostly tree damage along the highway. As the tornado moved into residential areas along Fulton Drive and Lykes Boulevard, substantial damage occurred with several homes being destroyed with at least one being swept off the foundation. There was also significant tree damage in the neighborhood. Several homes along Georgetown Lane suffered significant damage as wind breached garage doors, aiding in complete roof loss in some cases. Other damage included destroyed fences, sheds, and lofting of a hot tub. Numerous trees were uprooted or snapped.||As the tornado continued toward the northeast, it paralleled Carson Road and caused substantial damage to homes along Meida Circle, Darlene Drive, and New Castle Road. Buildings in an industrial area along Carson Road were damaged, including a fleet of vehicles at Hurst Towing. The damage along New Castle Road was widespread with a few trees debarked or snapped half way down the trunk, and debris from homes thrown considerable distances. The tornado began to weaken somewhat after crossing North Pine Hill Road, but still caused minor damage to the Fultondale High School and a wooded area to the east. As it continued eastward crossing Indian Valley Road, several trees were uprooted and a few homes received minor damage. Along Highway 79, dozens of mobile homes were damaged by falling trees in the Rusk Mobile Home Park. The tornado then crossed Highway 75 in Center Point, where trees and power lines were downed near the Jefferson County Multi-Services Facility. The tornado began to weaken further at this point, but still produced a narrow discernable track of EF0 damage just east of Center Point Lake, where trees were uprooted and minor roof and structural damage occurred. Nearing the end of its life cycle, the tornado turned northward before dissipating near Country View Court in the Arrowhead subdivision of Center Point.

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.

6 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 04:34 UTC, 6 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 05:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 23:52 UTC and running to 06:47 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:54 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 Birmingham radar (KBMX), 51 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:36 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

1 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.