EF3 Centreville–Montevallo tornado, 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 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

March 30, 2022

Touchdown

9:53 PM CDT (02:53 UTC)

Lifted

10:24 PM CDT (03:24 UTC)

On the ground

31 minutes

Path length

29.2 miles (47.0 km)

Path width

1,200 yards (1097 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

2

Counties

Perry, Bibb and Shelby counties

Touchdown point

32.747, -87.120

Lift-off point

33.109, -86.861

Record number

2203302053-01

79 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 145 mph.

• Camper unit rolled. There does not appear to be any anchoring
• Multiple campers rolled or destroyed
• Numerous snapped pine trees.
• Several trees down. Roofing damage consisting of shingles pulled that.

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

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.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northern Perry County and determined that it was consistent with an EF3 tornado, with maximum winds near 145 mph. The tornado touched down near the intersection of county road 183 and 219.|Tree damage was observed, of which became quite significant along Barnette Road and Whitetail Road, where a wide swath of large pine trees were snapped. The tornado continued to increase in intensity and reached EF3 strength as it approached the Bibb County line. An aerial survey was conducted and significant timber damage was observed and photographed in northeast Perry County. This area is in the Oakmulgee District of the Talladega National Forest. Though it was hard to assess how many trees were blown down, it was clear that tens of thousands of hardwood and softwood trees were snapped and uprooted along the tornadoes path during max intensity. Some trunks were left at least partially debarked. Due to the widespread nature of the timber damage, including some 300-400 yard wide sections of complete blow-down, the rating of this tornado was upgraded to EF3 with estimated peak winds of 145 mph. The tornado crossed into Bibb Count about one mile west of Beaverdam Creek.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in eastern Bibb County and determined that it was consistent with an EF3 tornado, with maximum winds near 145 mph. This tornado originated in Perry County and crossed into southern Bibb County about one mile west of Beaverdam Creek. The most widespread tree damage occurred near the Perry/Bibb county line in the Oakmulgee National Forest. The tornado continued northeast and crossed Highway 82 near the northeast corner of the National Forest. Trees were uprooted and snapped in this area. The tornado tracked across northeast Bibb County, causing additional timber damage as it approached the Brierfield community. It crossed into Shelby County near Moreland Road.

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

21 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 02:32 UTC, 21 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 03:04 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 22:30 UTC and running to 05:26 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.

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 34 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:55 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.