Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2021

EF0 tornado, Central Mills, Alabama, March 17, 2021

Name: EF0 tornado, Central Mills, Alabama, March 17, 2021
Start: 2021-03-17T21:11:00.000Z
End: 2021-03-17T21:13:00.000Z
Location: Central Mills, Alabama

This EF0 tornado ran 1.1 miles across Dallas County on March 17, 2021, touching down at 4:11 PM CDT and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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.

The record

Rating: EF0
Date: March 17, 2021
Touchdown: 4:11 PM CDT (21:11 UTC)
Lifted: 4:13 PM CDT (21:13 UTC)
On the ground: 2 minutes
Path length: 1.1 miles (1.7 km)
Path width: 75 yards (69 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
County: Dallas County
Touchdown point: 32.285, -87.428
Lift-off point: 32.294, -87.416
Record number: 2103171511-01

The damage survey

3 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 65 mph.

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

What the Weather Service recorded

An active southern jet stream set-up across the southern United States during the middle of March. Several short-wave troughs became negatively tilted as each one traversed across Texas and towards Alabama. This resulted in a single hail event one Monday, March 15, and significant tornado outbreak on Wednesday, March 17. Many supercells began to develop across Central Alabama by midday Wednesday and continued into the evening hours before a squall line moved through the state. Sufficient instability and strong wind shear produced conditions favorable for tornadoes to develop. The event consisted of twenty-one tornadoes in the NWS Birmingham forecast area.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in southwest Dallas County and determined that it was consistent with an EF0 tornado, with maximum winds near 65 mph. The tornado touched down near State Road 66, just east of County Road 109. At this location, a few large branches were snapped off. The tornado tracked northeast through pastureland where additional minor tree damage was observed. The tornado lifted just north of County Road 109 where a large softwood tree was uprooted.

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

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a High Risk, with a 0.30 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 21:37 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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Mar 17, 3:43 PM CDT, 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 17, 3:43 PM CDT, 28 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 17, 10:35 AM CDT, 5 hours 36 minutes before

Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Birmingham AL
1035 AM CDT Wed Mar 17 2021

ALZ011>015-017>050-181845-
Marion-Lamar-Fayette-Winston-Walker-Blount-Etowah-Calhoun-Cherokee-
Cleburne-Pickens-Tuscaloosa-Jefferson-Shelby-St. Clair-Talladega-
Clay-Randolph-Sumter-Greene-Hale-Perry-Bibb-Chilton-Coosa-Tallapoosa-
Chambers-Marengo-Dallas-Autauga-Lowndes-Elmore-Montgomery-Macon-
Bullock-Lee-Russell-Pike-Barbour-
1035 AM CDT Wed Mar 17 2021

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the counties served by the
National Weather Service office in Birmingham.

.DAY ONE...Outlook through Tonight.

A severe weather outbreak is expected this afternoon into early
Thursday morning across all of Central Alabama. Threats include
strong long track tornadoes, large hail up to tennis ball size, and
damaging winds up to 80 mph. Residents are strongly encouraged to
stay weather aware today and overnight tonight. Take warnings very
seriously.

Locally heavy rainfall may cause minor flooding of poor drainage
areas through the overnight hours.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday.

Minor flooding is forecast along portions of the Black Warrior River
beginning Thursday night. Please see the latest flood statements for
details.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Activation of storm spotters and emergency management may be needed
through tonight and into the pre dawn hours on Thursday. Please
follow all local, state, and CDC guidelines in regards to travel.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 17, 2:05 PM CDT, 2 hours 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
205 PM CDT WED MAR 17 2021

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0157 PM     HAIL             GORDO                   33.32N 87.90W
03/17/2021  E2.75 INCH       PICKENS            AL   PUBLIC

            BASEBALL AND GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL IN GORDO.
            RELAYED THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA PICTURES.

&&

MAL

Local storm report, Mar 17, 2:12 PM CDT, 1 hour 59 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
212 PM CDT WED MAR 17 2021

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0201 PM     TORNADO          4 W HIGGINS FERRY PARK  32.85N 86.52W
03/17/2021                   CHILTON            AL   STORM CHASER

            TORNADO REPORTED ON THE GROUND AND CAUSING
            DAMAGE EAST OF CLANTON ON HIGHWAY 491. RADAR
            ALSO HAD A TDS AT THIS LOCATION.

&&

MAL

Local storm report, Mar 17, 2:24 PM CDT, 1 hour 47 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
224 PM CDT WED MAR 17 2021

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0102 PM     TSTM WND DMG     BLUFFPORT               32.59N 88.12W
03/17/2021                   SUMTER             AL   FIRE DEPT/RESCUE

            SEVERAL TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN AND AT LEAST 4
            STRUCTURES WERE DAMAGED IN BLUFFPORT. DAMAGE
            WAS REPORTED AT HIGHWAY 21 AND VALLEY ROAD.
            POSSIBLE TORNADO.

&&

MAL

Local storm report, Mar 17, 2:36 PM CDT, 1 hour 35 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
236 PM CDT WED MAR 17 2021

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0229 PM     TORNADO          3 WSW MILLER STEAM PLAN 33.62N 87.11W
03/17/2021                   JEFFERSON          AL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            TORNADO REPORTED BY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
            NEAR BIRMINGPORT.

&&

MAL

Local storm report, Mar 17, 2:38 PM CDT, 1 hour 33 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
238 PM CDT WED MAR 17 2021

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0222 PM     TORNADO          1 SSW STEWARTVILLE      33.07N 86.25W
03/17/2021                   COOSA              AL   PUBLIC

            TORNADO LIKELY FROM TDS ON LOCAL RADAR NEAR
            WEOGUFKA.

&&

MAL

Local storm report, Mar 17, 3:07 PM CDT, 1 hour 4 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
307 PM CDT WED MAR 17 2021

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0229 PM     TORNADO          1 E MOUND STATE PARK    33.00N 87.62W
03/17/2021                   HALE               AL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            ROOF DAMAGE TO A NUMBER OF HOUSES IN THE
            CITY ON BOTH SIDES OF THE COUNTY LINE.
            SEVERAL BUSINESSES DAMAGED IN MOUNDVILLE.

&&

MAL

The air that afternoon

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.

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 12:00Z

9.2 hours before the tornado, 116 km from the path. March 17, 2021.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 658 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -112 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 759 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 59 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 169 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 301 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 2.1
0-3 km lapse rate: 4.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 00:00Z

2.8 hours after it, 116 km from the path. March 18, 2021.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.

Hodograph

Mixed-layer CAPE: 188 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -25 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 21 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 669 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 63 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 336 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 465 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.6
0-3 km lapse rate: 5.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Selma (SEM), 41 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
00:00 UTC

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

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 116 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:09 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.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2021 tornado in Alabama Every tornado in Alabama since 1950 Warnings in force in Alabama now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of March 17, 2021

32 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
March 17	12:03 PM CDT	EF2	Wayne, MS	13.1	325
March 17	12:31 PM CDT	EF0	Sumter, AL	0.3	70
March 17	12:32 PM CDT	EF2	Dallas, AL	5.1	1,000	2
March 17	12:57 PM CDT	EF1	Sumter, AL	9.8	475
March 17	1:16 PM CDT	EF1	Lincoln, MS	6.2	120		$20,000
March 17	1:24 PM CDT	EF1	Autauga, AL	2.9	150
March 17	1:56 PM CDT	EF1	Chilton, AL	3.0	500
March 17	2:03 PM CDT	EF0	Marengo, AL	0.8	175
March 17	2:12 PM CDT	EF1	Hale, AL	22.0	550
March 17	2:22 PM CDT	EF1	Marengo, AL	2.8	500
March 17	2:26 PM CDT	EF1	Union Parish, LA	2.6	766		$150,000
March 17	2:29 PM CDT	EF0	Coosa, AL	0.1	25
March 17	3:09 PM CDT	EF1	Tuscaloosa, AL	0.5	150
March 17	3:25 PM CDT	EF1	Tuscaloosa, AL	3.5	650
March 17	3:44 PM CDT	EF2	Wayne, MS to AL	36.6	500	2
March 17	3:54 PM CDT	EF1	Tuscaloosa, AL	5.8	650
March 17	4:07 PM CDT	EF1	Wilkinson, MS	6.8	100
March 17	4:30 PM CDT	EF1	Jefferson, AL	2.8	650
March 17	4:37 PM CDT	EF0	Desha, AR	0.1	10
March 17	4:54 PM CDT	EF0	Marengo, AL	1.8	75
March 17	4:56 PM CDT	EF0	Jefferson, AL	3.5	660	1
March 17	5:12 PM CDT	EF2	Chilton, AL	5.8	400
March 17	5:30 PM CDT	EF1	Barry, MO	23.7	75		$60,000
March 17	5:43 PM CDT	EF1	Blount, AL	12.9	300
March 17	6:16 PM CDT	EF0	Lamar, MS	1.4	300		$75,000
March 17	7:25 PM CDT	EF0	Chickasaw, MS	0.5	50		$25,000
March 17	7:31 PM CDT	EF0	Chickasaw, MS	1.4	100		$25,000
March 17	7:39 PM CDT	EF0	Lee, MS	4.9	60		$35,000
March 17	7:56 PM CDT	EF0	Kemper, MS	0.2	80		$5,000
March 17	8:35 PM CDT	EF0	Autauga, AL	0.1	75
March 17	9:31 PM CDT	EF1	Cullman, AL	8.5	150
March 17	10:43 PM CDT	EF0	Montgomery, AL	0.3	140

What this means

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.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.