EF1 tornado, Atwood to Belgreen, Alabama, June 5, 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

June 5, 2024

Touchdown

7:06 PM CDT (00:06 UTC)

Lifted

7:25 PM CDT (00:25 UTC)

On the ground

19 minutes

Path length

12.9 miles (20.7 km)

Path width

225 yards (206 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Franklin County

Touchdown point

34.349, -87.991

Lift-off point

34.488, -87.848

Record number

2406051806-01

27 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS BMX and NWS HUN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 110 mph.

• Several Oaks uprooted. Some snapped. This is looking north. Tornado lifted here. 300 yards wide
• Additional numerous trees uprooted north-northeast.
• Metal sheet pealing. Possible lowering due to supporting structure of roof.
• Damage to metal roof and trusses.

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

A wavy line of thunderstorms moved northeast from Mississippi and across all of north Alabama and southern middle Tennessee during the evening hours of the 5th. Along the line, an EF-1 tornado tracked across portions of Franklin County. There were also clusters of wind damage reported in other portions of north central and northeast Alabama as the line progressed northeast and weakened.

A tornado began just south of Highway 172 just east of Sanders Road. The tornado crossed the highway and intensified, with wind speeds reaching about 90 mph. It crossed over an open field, uprooting and snapping trees. It continued northeast producing additional tree damage, before intensifying and widening to 225 yards, as it approached the southeastern portion of Bear Creek Reservoir. Numerous trees were uprooted or snapped, especially as it approached and crossed Overton Farm Road. Some of the tree trunks were snapped at their bases which were 2 to 2.5 feet in diameter and likely reached its maximum intensity and width. Maximum sustained wind speeds were estimated to be 110 mph. The tornado weakened as it approached and moved across Bear Creek as noted via drone imagery. The imagery suggested trees uprooted in a more sporadic nature. Additional tree damage was found as the tornado crossed Highway 16. At this location, less than 10% of the roof of two chicken houses was pealed off and trusses damaged. Just east of the chicken houses, the roof of a small shed structure was pealed back about 25%. The tornado continued its path northeast, moving across portions of Entrekin Road, causing sporadic trees to be uprooted and snapped. The tornado continued just west of Glasgow Corner, before crossing Highway 187, near Underground Lake Road. At this location, additional tree damage was found, with two portions of large trees snapped, one of which fell onto a house. The tornado continued northeast across Highway 24, and then an east-northeast path along Highway 524, uprooting and snapping multiple trees. One tree fell on a porch roof and damaged it. The tornado lifted just northeast of the Highway 524 and 41 intersection.

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

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.

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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 19:59 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 Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 69 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:06 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

23 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.