EF1 tornado, Summerdale to Robertsdale, Alabama, March 22, 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

March 22, 2022

Touchdown

11:07 PM CDT (04:07 UTC)

Lifted

11:16 PM CDT (04:16 UTC)

On the ground

9 minutes

Path length

5.7 miles (9.1 km)

Path width

30 yards (27 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Baldwin County

Touchdown point

30.480, -87.720

Lift-off point

30.561, -87.707

Record number

2203222207-01

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

• Tornado crossed Wynn Rd and overturned/mangled irrigation systems.

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

A strong storm system moving through the deep south. A line of thunderstorms developed ahead of this system and moved eastward. Ahead of the line, a very warm, moist and unstable environment developed which along with strong vertical shear, set the stage for an outbreak of severe thunderstorms across parts of southern United States. This event produced 3 tornadoes in southwest Alabama along with wind damage.

A compact EF1 tornado touched down at approximately 11:07 PM CDT|3/22/22 on CR-34 S affecting a residence in Summerdale where a|storage building experienced damage to its walls and roofing|material removed. The tornado quickly moved north impacting a|wooded area just past the residence where multiple hardwood trees|were snapped/uprooted supporting its peak intensity around 90 mph.|This tornado then crossed Wynn Road before overturning/mangling a|couple irrigation systems. The tornado began to weaken after this|and damage became sporadic as it tracked north-northeast with|pockets of EF0 damage being done to residential structures and|trees until it reached Robertsdale. Once in Robertsdale the|tornado continued to produce EF0 damage peeling back roofing|material of small retail buildings by 11:14 PM CDT. The tornado|began to narrow considerably as it tracked into northeastern|Robertsdale knocking down large tree limbs and overturning a shed.|The tornado lifted in northeastern Robertsdale off of Baldwin|Street at 11:16 PM CDT.

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

36 minutes of warning. NWS MOB issued a tornado warning for this county at 03:31 UTC, 36 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 03:45 UTC and running to 07:57 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 01:03 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 Mobile radar (KMOB), 53 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:04 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

40 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.