EF1 tornado, Hackleburg to Forkville, Alabama, April 1, 2023

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 1, 2023

Touchdown

2:32 AM CDT (07:32 UTC)

Lifted

2:52 AM CDT (07:52 UTC)

On the ground

20 minutes

Path length

17.0 miles (27.3 km)

Path width

675 yards (617 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

1

Counties

Marion and Winston counties

Touchdown point

34.238, -87.851

Lift-off point

34.266, -87.556

Record number

2304010132-01

85 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 110 mph.

• Multiple uproots of smaller trees
• Back of outbuilding has roof pealed up. Soffet debris across road
• Numerous trees uprooted southsideofroad
• Private property. Move point.

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

A very dynamic Spring storm system over the Upper Midwest states produced conditions favorable for tornadoes over northwest Alabama during the early morning hours on April 1st, and strong gradient winds throughout the day.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northern Marion County and determined that it was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum winds near 110 mph. The tornado began on Marion County Road 348 west of Alabama Highway 253 south of Hackleburg, where minor tree damage was noted. The tornado rapidly increased and caused significant damage as it crossed Alabama Highway 253, uprooting several trees and causing superficial damage to a home on the edge of the track. The tornado continued east-northeastward along Union Hill Road, crossing the road twice before the intersection with Chalk Mine Road. Damage in this segment of the path consisted solely of pockets of tree damage which varied in intensity but was easily identified as tornado damage. As the tornado paralleled Chalk Mine Road, it produced more widespread tree damage, and destroyed a manufactured home. The damage to trees surrounding the manufactured home was minimal, which contributed to a below expected value or 100 mph assigned to the flipping and tossing of the manufactured home. The tornado continued across the Fairview community causing significant tree damage just east of County Road 12, with a grove of pine trees all being sheared off about 20 feet above ground level. The tornado then continued over inaccessible areas south of County Road 6 as it headed towards the Lumbull community, crossing Alabama Highway 241 just south of Lumbull. As it approached Bear Creek, it continued to cause sparse but notable tree damage. The most significant damage along the entire path occurred along Alabama Highway 13 south of Bear Creek, where a large metal building structure received significant damage to the windward side of the building. Winds in this area approached 110 mph, bringing this tornado to a high end EF1 rating. The tornado then crossed AL Hwy 13, where an individual received major injuries as the manufactured home being occupied was flipped upside-down. The tornado continued eastward, crossing Old Union Road, then paralleling County Line Church Road until the tornado passed into Winston County just north of Sherwood Place Drive.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northwest Winston County and determined that it was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum winds near 100 mph. This tornado began in Marion County and crossed into Winston County just north of Sherwood Place Drive. The tornado weakened somewhat as it crossed the county line, and the damage path widened. As it approached the vicinity of Posey Field, the tornado seemed to intensify locally, uprooting several trees in a residential neighborhood. The tornado crossed Airport Road, damaging trees and a detached garage at a residence. The tornado continued eastward through the Center community, with damage decreasing and becoming more sporadic before eventually dissipating just north of County Road 68 just west of Alabama Highway 195.

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

37 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 06:55 UTC, 37 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 08:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 05:00 UTC and running to 09:20 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 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 Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 70 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 07:31 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 2023 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

21 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.