EF1 tornado, Summerdale, Alabama, December 29, 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

December 29, 2024

Touchdown

12:47 AM CST (06:47 UTC)

Lifted

12:50 AM CST (06:50 UTC)

On the ground

3 minutes

Path length

2.4 miles (3.8 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Baldwin County

Touchdown point

30.500, -87.692

Lift-off point

30.510, -87.656

Record number

2412290047-01

4 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS MOB, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 95 mph.

• The undercarriages of several mobile homes were damaged along with loose objects thrown about.
• Significant damage to the gable system in the front of the home with removal of the roof decking as wind blew through the soffit and lifted the roof off of the roof gable studs. The gable located in the rear of the home was completely ripped from the frame and thrown to patio below with a significant portion of the roof decking also removed from the gable studs supporting the roof. A screened and roofed patio along the back side of the home was completely destroyed. An open tin roof structure in front of a shed in the backyard was also completely destroyed. There were several large branches from a tree that were downed as well as a downed fence along the south side of the house.
• A travel camper was rolled over along with a downed fence and some minor tree damage.
• A large portion of the metal roof of a metal shed was peeled from the steel roofing beams with a large portion of the roof launched approximately 75 yards, landing in the front yard of a nearby home. A small tractor combine was also overturned.

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

A multi-day severe weather episode occurred across southeast Mississippi into southwest and south-central Alabama and the Florida Panhandle with round #1 beginning the afternoon of December 27th and lasting through the evening hours and round #2 beginning the afternoon of December 28th and lasting into the early morning hours of December 29th. Multiple tornadoes and areas of damage were reported.

A tornado first touched down in a field approximately 100 yards|to the west of a home to the southwest of the intersection of N E|7th Street and E Greenwood Road in Summerdale. The tornado|destroyed a shed roof structure then struck the single family|brick home. Significant damage to the roof was observed with|destruction of a roof gable on both the front and rear of the|home and the roof decking was lifted and removed from the roof|framing resulting in large holes in a large portion of the roof.|A rear roofed screened patio was completely destroyed and a front|porch was heavily damaged. Large branches of two oak trees were|broken and deposited into the yard. There was also a large|section of fencing that was downed at this house and a|neighboring yard just to the south. The tornado was rated an EF-|1 at this location with winds of 95 mph. The tornado only briefly|touched down and was very intermittent along the entire 2.25 mile|track. EF-0 tornado damage occurred at the Graystone RV Park at|the intersection of E Greenwood Road and the Baldwin Beach|Express and to the northeast of the Baldwin Beach Express at a|mobile home community along County Road 38 S. A recreational|vehicle was blown over onto a pickup truck damaging both the RV|and a nearby pickup truck. A few additional recreation vehicles|were also shifted slightly from their resting locations. There|was minor tree damage at this location as well. The tornado|produced 70 to 75 mph winds at this location. To the northeast at|the mobile home community several mobile homes had damage to the|skirting along the bottom of the mobile homes. In addition, loose|objects to include patio furniture and children's toys were|thrown about. The tornado produced winds to 65 mph at the mobile|home community. The tornado again lifted and then again touchdown|to the northeast and struck a metal outbuilding removing large|portions of the metal roofing and bending and twisting the|roofing and side support beams. A large section of the metal roof|was also launched 75 yards over a nearby home and landed in the|front yard. A small tractor combine was also overturned. The|tornado had intensified at this location and was rated as an EF-|1 with winds estimated at 95 mph. The tornado lifted and rapidly|dissipated in an open field just beyond the damaged metal|outbuilding.

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

20 minutes of warning. NWS MOB issued a tornado warning for this county at 06:27 UTC, 20 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 07:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 00:34 UTC and running to 08:20 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 Mobile radar (KMOB), 58 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 06:45 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

30 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.