EF2 tornado, Souwilpa to Half Acre, Alabama, March 30, 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 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mphthis tornado

   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

EF2

Date

March 30, 2022

Touchdown

9:12 PM CDT (02:12 UTC)

Lifted

9:57 PM CDT (02:57 UTC)

On the ground

45 minutes

Path length

37.4 miles (60.2 km)

Path width

1,350 yards (1234 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Choctaw and Marengo counties

Touchdown point

31.814, -88.364

Lift-off point

32.200, -87.900

Record number

2203302012-01

50 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS BMX and NWS MOB, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 125 mph.

• Tornado width from pond to near road.
• Several trees downed in this area.
• Tree damage visible on high resolution satellite imagery at this location.

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

A very active severe weather season continued as an outbreak of severe thunderstorms occurred across the area from the evening of the 30th into the early morning hours on the 31st. A strong spring storm system moved across the area. Ahead of the system plenty of Gulf moisture returned to the central Gulf coast. This led to a very unstable atmosphere over the region which combined to strong wind shear to produce 18 tornadoes which were rated from EF-0 to EF-2. In addition to the tornadoes, the storms produced damaging straight line winds and large hail. Numerous reports of damage came in from southeast Mississippi, southwest Alabama and the western Florida panhandle.

A strong storm system approached Central Alabama on the afternoon of March 30th. A line of strong to severe thunderstorms moved west to east across the area during the evening and into the overnight hours. A few discrete supercell storms developed ahead of the main convective line as well. Damage from tornadoes, straight-line winds, and gradient winds ahead of the convective line was reported across numerous counties.||A total of 12 tornadoes occurred across Central Alabama. This included 3 EF2 tornadoes, 7 EF1 tornadoes, and 2 EF0 tornadoes. Widespread, significant tree damage and destruction of some residences occurred along the paths of the most intense tornadoes. There were no fatalities, but 2 injuries were reported in Bibb and Shelby Counties.

An EF1 tornado began approximately 3 miles southwest of Southern Choctaw High|School snapping multiple hardwood and softwood trees.|The beginning point was determined through analysis of Sentinel Satellite data. Strong damaging winds accompanied the rear flank downdraft associated with the tornado resulting in damage to outdoor bleachers and small outbuildings by the sports|field. A bus was also overturned in the parking lot with minor structural damage to the backside of the school. The tornado continued tracking northeast, both widening and strengthening impacting several homes and snapping/uprooting multiple trees and|snapping powerlines as it crossed Highway 17. This was the strongest point along the tornado path with near 110mph winds. The tornado continued tracking northeast causing more sporadic EF0 to EF1 damage along the rest of its path to the Marengo County border with damage generally limited to a few snapped/uprooted|softwood and hardwood trees, along with minor roof damage to a few homes. The tornado began to strengthen and widen again as it approached the Tombigbee River with the last accessible damage point on Ararat Road where there was notable snapped|softwood/hardwood trees. The tornado crossed into Marengo County before briefly crossing back into Choctaw County before again moving back into Marengo County.

This is the first segment of a tornado that originated in Choctaw, Alabama, and crossed into southwest Marengo County. National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in southwest Marengo County and determined that it was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum winds near 125 mph. A corridor of uprooted softwood trees was first observed near the Marengo County line where the trees were toppled across Blue Rock Road. The tornado tracked northeast near the intersection of Highway 69 and County Road 9. This area contained the highest degree and widest swath of damage noted on the survey where the tornado was likely at its strongest. There were considerable and continuous swaths of uprooted hardwood and softwood trees in addition to multiple snapped trunks. A manufactured home on County Road 9 was completely destroyed as the undercarriage rolled at least 30 yards from its foundation. A brick home next door also sustained roof damage not only from the winds, but also from a tree which fell onto the bedroom. The tornado continued northeast where it removed large portions of the roof and exterior walls from a single family residence on Highway 10. Other nearby residences sustained minor damage in addition to tree damage. After the tornado crossed Highway 10, it nearly paralleled Highway 69. Eventually the tornado reached Half Acre Circle where multiple trees were uprooted and a few residences sustained minor damage. On County Road 17, an abandoned and structurally unstable manufactured home was rolled onto its side. At this point, observed damage indicated that the tornado was likely weakening before it eventually lifted in the woods just east of County Road 17.

This is the second segment of an EF1 tornado that began just southwest of Southern Choctaw High School snapping multiple hardwood and softwood trees.|The beginning point is estimated just southwest of the high school|due to limited road access. Strong damaging winds accompanied the|rear flank downdraft associated with the tornado resulting in|damage to outdoor bleachers and small outbuildings by the sports|field. A bus was also overturned in the parking lot with minor|structural damage to the backside of the school. The tornado|continued tracking northeast, both widening and strengthening|impacting several homes and snapping/uprooting multiple trees and|snapping powerlines as it crossed Highway 17. This was the|strongest point along the tornado path with near 110mph winds. The|tornado continued tracking northeast causing more sporadic EF0 to|EF1 damage along the rest of its path to the Marengo County|border with damage generally limited to a few snapped/uprooted|softwood and hardwood trees, along with minor roof damage to a few|homes. The tornado began to strengthen and widen again as it|approached the Tombigbee River with the last accessible damage|point on Ararat Road where there was notable snapped|softwood/hardwood trees. The tornado crossed into Marengo County before briefly crossing back into Choctaw County before again moving back into Marengo County.

This is the second segment of a tornado that originated in Choctaw, Alabama, and crossed into southwest Marengo County. National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in southwest Marengo County and determined that it was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum winds near 125 mph. A corridor of uprooted softwood trees was first observed near the Marengo County line where the trees were toppled across Blue Rock Road. The tornado tracked northeast near the intersection of Highway 69 and County Road 9. This area contained the highest degree and widest swath of damage noted on the survey where the tornado was likely at its strongest. There were considerable and continuous swaths of uprooted hardwood and softwood trees in addition to multiple snapped trunks. A manufactured home on County Road 9 was completely destroyed as the undercarriage rolled at least 30 yards from its foundation. A brick home next door also sustained roof damage not only from the winds, but also from a tree which fell onto the bedroom. The tornado continued northeast where it removed large portions of the roof and exterior walls from a single family residence on Highway 10. Other nearby residences sustained minor damage in addition to tree damage. After the tornado crossed Highway 10, it nearly paralleled Highway 69. Eventually the tornado reached Half Acre Circle where multiple trees were uprooted and a few residences sustained minor damage. On County Road 17, an abandoned and structurally unstable manufactured home was rolled onto its side. At this point, observed damage indicated that the tornado was likely weakening before it eventually lifted in the woods just east of County Road 17.

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

13 minutes of warning. NWS MOB issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:59 UTC, 13 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 23:39 UTC and running to 04:00 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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 00:57 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.

Demopolis (DYA), 53 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 148 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:14 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

80 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 81 of them

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.