EF0 tornado, Shorter to Franklin, Alabama, December 29, 2024

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.

Rating

EF0

Date

December 29, 2024

Touchdown

1:30 AM CST (07:30 UTC)

Lifted

1:33 AM CST (07:33 UTC)

On the ground

3 minutes

Path length

2.8 miles (4.5 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Macon County

Touchdown point

32.473, -85.870

Lift-off point

32.480, -85.823

Record number

2412290130-01

32 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 80 mph.

• Several trees and limbs were downed.
• Large limbs down. A few small pines snapped/uprooted.
• Several uproots and a couple small snaps adjacent to and across the road.
• Very minor siding damage to church as well.

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

A quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) entered western Alabama from Mississippi just after 9 PM on December 28. With ample wind shear and adequate instability with the line as it passed through Central Alabama, 18 confirmed tornadoes were spawned within different line segments as the QLCS pushed eastward. Of the 18 tornadoes, 6 were rated EF1, including one that had a mile-wide path in Hale County near Sawyerville and two tornadoes that struck areas of central Montgomery County. An EF0 in Lowndes County resulted in two injuries. In addition, strong gusts associated with the QLCS resulted in scattered areas of non-tornadic wind damage.

A tornado began over an inaccessible area north of County Road 2 and south of Old Federal Road. Several trees were uprooted or limbs were snapped around a couple homes and a church as the tornado crossed Old Federal Road and U.S. 80. The church also sustained minor siding damage. More trees were uprooted as the tornado crossed Redland Road and Cross Keys Road, where the most substantial area of tree damage occurred just north of Deborah Cannon Wolfe School. The damage extent decreased substantially crossing County Road 30, with small trees and tree limbs downed. A few more tree limbs were downed along County Road 9 as the tornado track ended. Maximum winds were estimated at 75 mph.

A tornado began south of U.S. 80 in a wooded area and moved northeast. Several trees and tree limbs were downed across Jackson Rd. Further northeast, along Old Federal Rd, numerous trees were uprooted behind the Shorter Post Office and Town Hall. Minor roof damage occurred to the post office building. A couple fences and signs were blown down as well. Tree damage continued across U.S. 80, where the Shorter Lodge building sustained minor roof damage and had a tree fall onto a ramp and porch overhang. An adjacent church had minor roof and siding damage as well. Minor tree damage continued into a wooded area east of County Road 40. A tornado debris signature was observed on KMXX (Maxwell Air Force Base) radar. Maximum winds were estimated at 80 mph.

A tornado began just west of the confluence of Chewacla Creek and the Tallapoosa River near the Elmore County line and moved east-northeast just north of County Road 8. Several trees were snapped or uprooted in a wooded area adjacent to the railroad. Satellite imagery indicated the tornado dissipated along Chewacla Creek northeast of County Road 8. A Tornado Debris Signature was detected by KMXX (Maxwell Air Force Base) radar. Maximum winds were estimated at 75 mph.

A weak tornado moved northward across County Road 56, just southwest of Sharpe Field. Only a few small trees and tree limbs were downed. A tornado debris signature was detected by KMXX (Maxwell Air Force Base) radar. Maximum winds were estimated at 60 mph.

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

16 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 07:14 UTC, 16 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 07:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 04:57 UTC and running to 08:31 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 Marginal Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 05:59 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 Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 9 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 07:29 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.