Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2022

EF0 tornado, Dixie Spgs, Alabama, November 30, 2022

This EF0 tornado ran 2.0 miles across Walker County on November 30, 2022, touching down at 12:28 AM CST and reaching 50 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.

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

    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 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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
November 30, 2022
Touchdown
12:28 AM CST (06:28 UTC)
Lifted
12:30 AM CST (06:30 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
2.0 miles (3.2 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Walker County
Touchdown point
33.624, -87.383
Lift-off point
33.612, -87.351
Record number
2211300028-01

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 73 mph.

  • 5 trees blown down at this location facing the northeast
  • Estimated start point via RADAR which showed both a TVS and subsequent TDS. Inaccessible area.
  • Two pine trunks snapped at top of hill visible from Tutwiler Rd.

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

A very dynamic and deepening low pressure system moved through the Ohio Valley states on November 29-30 with a trailing cold. The air mass across Central Alabama was initially stable during the day on November 29th with surface dewpoints in the 40s and 50s. Instability increased dramatically the evening of the 29th as 60 plus surface dewpoints advected northward into Central Alabama. A QLCS developed ahead of the approaching cold front in addition to discrete thunderstorms.

A NWS Birmingham survey team was able to find very minor and spatially isolated timber damage along Tutwiler Road. This was the only damage observed on the survey. Radar data indicated a weak TVS northwest of Highway 69 in an inaccessible area.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 04:54 UTC and running to 07:24 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
22:42 UTC04:54 UTCTornado WatchBMX
23:04 UTC12:00 UTCFlood WatchBMX
23:47 UTC06:00 UTCFlood AdvisoryBMX
00:09 UTC01:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMX
00:52 UTC01:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMX
00:58 UTC06:00 UTCFlood AdvisoryBMX
04:54 UTC07:24 UTCTornado WatchBMX
06:00 UTC07:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMX
06:29 UTC06:38 UTCTornado WarningBMX

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 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), 00:00Z

6.5 hours before the tornado, 73 km from the path. November 30, 2022.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2022-11-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 20 joules per kilogram, CIN -138, lifted condensation level 954 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
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.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2022-11-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 402 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 72 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
20 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-138 J/kg
Surface CAPE
18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
954 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
72 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
402 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
531 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2
0-3 km lapse rate
6.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 12:00Z

5.5 hours after it, 73 km from the path. November 30, 2022.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2022-11-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -93261, lifted condensation level 589 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
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.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2022-11-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -150 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 77 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-93261 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
589 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
77 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-150 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-122 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 74 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 06:27 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.

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
06:20 UTCTSTM WND DMGBoldoWalker, ALTREES AND POWER LINES DOWN IN NUMEROUS LOCATIONS AROUND THE COUNTY INCLUDING BOLDO, SIPSEY, AND PINEY WOODS.
06:28 UTCTORNADOThe WyeWalker, ALMINOR TIMBER DAMAGE WAS CAUSED BY A TORNADO. THE DAMAGE PATH WAS 1.99 MILES LONG AND 50 YARDS WIDE AT ITS WIDEST POINT.
06:33 UTCTSTM WND DMG7 Wsw ColonyCullman, ALA TREE WAS REPORTED DOWN NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF HIGHWAY 91 AND CR 27.
06:35 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Sw ColonyCullman, ALA TREE WAS REPORTED DOWN AT 8304 HIGHWAY 91 WHICH KNOCKED DOWN POWERLINES.
06:42 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 W Partridge CrossroadJefferson, ALTREES AND POWERLINES DOWN IN THE BAGLEY AREA.
06:44 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Wnw West JeffersonJefferson, ALTREES AND POWERLINES DOWN IN WEST JEFFERSON.
06:44 UTCTSTM WND GST 40QuintonWalker, AL40 MPH WINDS AND PEA SIZE HAIL.
06:50 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 N GraysvilleJefferson, ALMULTIPLE TREES DOWN IN GRAYSVILLE AND BROOKSIDE, INCLUDING ALONG HIGHWAY 78.
06:55 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 E Mount OliveJefferson, ALMULTIPLE TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN IN MOUNT OLIVE.
06:55 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Sse Oak GroveJefferson, ALLARGE TREE DOWN ON MUDCREEK RD AND HARMON RD IN OAK GROVE.
07:06 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Sw Birmingham FairgroJefferson, ALTREES AND POWERLINES DOWN IN ENSLEY, INCLUDING ONE ON A HOME ON AVENUE Q.
07:08 UTCTSTM WND GST 521 Ne Birmingham InternaJefferson, ALPEAK WIND FROM BIRMINGHAM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
07:52 UTCFLASH FLOOD2 Ene New CastleJefferson, ALSEVERAL AREAS OF FLOODING AROUND THE CLAY/CHALKVILLE AREA, INCLUDING OAK SHADOW CIRCLE AND THE COSBY LAKE AREA. A RESIDENCE WAS FLOODED ON DUG HOLLOW ROAD.
07:58 UTCFLASH FLOODRiverchase GalleriaJefferson, ALINTERSECTION OF HWY 31 AND LORNA RD IS FLOODED.
08:07 UTCFLASH FLOOD2 Ese HooverJefferson, ALSEVERAL INTERSECTIONS FLOODED IN THE BIRMINGHAM METRO, INCLUDING THE I459/I65 INTERSECTION WHERE RAMPS WERE IMPASSABLE.
09:15 UTCFLASH FLOOD1 Ne EnsleyJefferson, ALPER GAGE DATA, VILLAGE CREEK ROSE ABOVE 10FT.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2022 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of November 30, 2022

14 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 3012:38 AM CSTEF1Amite, MS18.4250$200,000
November 3012:57 AM CSTEF0Blount, AL3.5500
November 301:11 AM CSTEF1Marengo, AL15.5535
November 301:37 AM CSTEF0Calhoun, AL0.8300
November 301:49 AM CSTEF2Marion, MS6.0150$150,000
November 302:27 AM CSTEF3Greene, MS to AL20.1700
November 303:14 AM CSTEF2Elmore, AL9.870022
November 303:38 AM CSTEF2Elmore, AL6.3400
November 305:42 AM CSTEF0Pike, AL1.4150
November 305:45 AM CSTEF0Pike, AL0.8150
November 306:06 AM CSTEF0Barbour, AL6.6300
November 306:42 AM CSTEF1Geneva, AL1.850$40,000
November 309:26 AM ESTEF0Colquitt, GA0.025$5,000
November 309:38 AM ESTUnratedColquitt, GA0.025

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.