EF1 tornado, Plantersville to Cooper, Alabama, April 2, 2024

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 2, 2024

Touchdown

10:28 PM CDT (03:28 UTC)

Lifted

10:37 PM CDT (03:37 UTC)

On the ground

9 minutes

Path length

8.3 miles (13.3 km)

Path width

600 yards (549 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Dallas and Chilton counties

Touchdown point

32.641, -87.040

Lift-off point

32.675, -86.904

Record number

2404022128-01

51 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 90 mph.

• A few uprooted trees in the area. No damage to residences or outbuildings.
• Some underskirting blown out
• Race Car trailer blown rolled 100 yards
• Estimated start point via radar, (inaccessible area).

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

A surface low positioned over Lake Michigan moved an associated cold front through Central Alabama during the evening of April 2. While a widespread severe weather outbreak unfolded to the north, Alabama saw more concentrated areas of severe weather across northern and central counties in the state. After 10 PM CDT April 2, a small mesoscale convective vortex developed within a broken line of thunderstorms, spawning four tornadoes and areas of wind damage across northern Dallas, southern Chilton, and central and eastern Coosa counties. Three of the tornadoes were rated EF1, with damage primarily consisting of trees and sporadic small structures.

The tornado began in a wooded area just east of the Perry/Dallas County line. It quickly reached its peak intensity of 95 mph as it crossed County Road 272 where dozens of trees were snapped or uprooted, blocking the roadway for over a quarter of a mile as it paralleled the road. Additional trees were downed along County Roads 290 and 305, but the tornado weakened as it approached Plantersville. Still, several trees were downed along Dallas County 560 and Highway 22 in Plantersville. The tornado then crossed into Chilton County.

An EF1 tornado began in Dallas County and crossed into Chilton County. It downed more trees near residences on County Road 26 and County Road 16 before quickly dissipating as it crossed County Road 16. The total path length of the tornado was 8.28 miles.

The same storm that produced the Plantersville tornado continued northeastward. Some sporadic minor tree damage was observed around Pletcher but was more consistent with straight line winds. Damage became more consistent with a tornado as it reached a residence along County Road 359 where a couple trees were downed and minor roof damage occurred to the residence. Damage remained sporadic until it reached some residences along County Road 37. There portions of a porch overhang were blown off a residence, and two barns were damaged. One of these was destroyed though minimal damage was observed to nearby trees. A racecar trailer was blown 100 yards downstream and flattened. Minor tree damage continued as the tornado moved northeastward across County Road 9 and additional outbuildings were damaged or destroyed. The tornado intensified as it crossed an inaccessible area east of County Road 387 as depicted on satellite imagery by an area of heavier vegetation/timber damage, with winds estimated at 95 mph. Much of the roof was blown off a manufactured home on County Road 49, with another manufactured home having about half of its roofing materials removed. Another pole barn was destroyed near County Road 391 where a personal weather station measured a 95.7 mph gust at an elevation of 7 feet. Occasional trees and limbs were downed as the tornado crossed Interstate 65 near Highway 31, before the tornado dissipated after crossing County Road 480.

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

5 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 03:23 UTC, 5 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 03:41 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 00:00 UTC and running to 05:02 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 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 01:16 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.

Selma (SEM), 35 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 60 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:26 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 2024 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

68 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 69 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.