EF1 tornado, Eutaw to Phipps, Alabama, April 13, 2022

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 mphthis tornado

   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

EF1

Date

April 13, 2022

Touchdown

9:35 PM CDT (02:35 UTC)

Lifted

9:56 PM CDT (02:56 UTC)

On the ground

21 minutes

Path length

17.6 miles (28.3 km)

Path width

400 yards (366 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Greene and Hale counties

Touchdown point

32.818, -87.902

Lift-off point

32.936, -87.633

Record number

2204132035-01

78 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS BMX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 90 mph.

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

A quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) developed across Mississippi and tracked eastward across Central Alabama on the evening of April 13th. Numerous trees were uprooted as surface winds gusted to 60-70 mph in some locations. A few tornadoes also formed within the line and impacted portions of Greene, Hale, and Tuscaloosa Counties.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in far eastern Greene County and determined that it was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum winds near 90 mph. The tornado touched down just southwest of the Branch Heights community on the south side of Eutaw. It tracked northeast across Joseph Wilder Circle causing minor roof and tree damage. It began to intensify as it moved northeastward, removing a portion of the roof of the housing authority building, and reached its maximum intensity as it moved along Levi Morrow Senior Court. At least 40 residences in the community suffered at least visible shingle damage, with a few residences suffering significant roof damage. The tornado continued northeast, causing roof damage to a business along Highway 43, and snapping and uprooting multiple trees in a park as it crossed Highway 14 and at the Finches Ferry Road. The tornado then crossed into Hale County near the dead end of Finches Ferry Road.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in western Hale County and determined that it was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum winds near 90 mph. This tornado originated in near Eutaw in Greene County and crossed into Hale County at the Black Warrior River near Finches Ferry Road. In Akron, several trees were uprooted and an apartment building suffered minor roof damage. The tornado continued to cause occasional tree damage as it moved just north of Highway 60. Multiple trees were then uprooted along Cedarwood Road. After this point, discerning the tornado path from sporadic tree damage caused by straight line winds in the bowing segment became difficult, but the tornado appears to have dissipated prior to crossing Highway 69.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northeast Hale County and determined that it was consistent with an EF0 tornado, with maximum winds near 80 mph. The brief tornado touched down near County Road 50 about 500 yards east of County Road 49. Before dissipating, several trees were uprooted and snapped along its short path.

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.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 23:44 UTC and running to 03:27 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 01:00 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), 99 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:33 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 2022 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

39 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.