EF1 tornado, Newell to Cold Ridge, Alabama, May 27, 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

May 27, 2024

Touchdown

6:52 AM CDT (11:52 UTC)

Lifted

6:56 AM CDT (11:56 UTC)

On the ground

4 minutes

Path length

3.2 miles (5.1 km)

Path width

350 yards (320 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Randolph County

Touchdown point

33.485, -85.444

Lift-off point

33.476, -85.391

Record number

2405270552-01

26 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.

• Pointing sw, inflow winds?
• Grain bins blown over; inflow winds?

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

A line of thunderstorms entered northern portions of Central Alabama after 4:30 AM CDT on May 27, producing scattered areas of wind damage and an embedded tornado in Cherokee County. Simultaneously, an area of intense thunderstorms moved northeastward from north of Meridian, Mississippi into the southern and eastern portions of the Birmingham metro area. This resulted in widespread tree and power line damage and occasional structure damage across northern Hale, southern Tuscaloosa, Bibb, Shelby, Jefferson, St. Clair, and Talladega counties. As the northern line progressed southeastward and later merged with the advancing thunderstorms moving east of Birmingham, a second tornado occurred over northern Randolph County at approximately 6:55 AM CDT. Additional activity occurred during the afternoon hours over the southeastern counties, with a few reports of nickel to quarter-size hail.

A brief EF1 tornado with winds up to 110 mph formed within a QLCS in northern Randolph County. The tornado began in a wooded area west of County Road 425 and began to snap tree branches and uproot trees. The tornado intensified after crossing County Road 427, snapping numerous trees between there and County Road 51. On County Road 51 multiple windows were blown out of a home with some minor roof damage also occurring. The roof was blown off an outbuilding causing its walls to collapse. Additional timber and outbuilding damage occurred as it crossed County Road 429 before the tornado dissipated in an inaccessible wooded area prior to reaching County Road 37. A tornado debris signature was observed on KFFC radar.

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.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 09:15 UTC and running to 12:32 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 Slight 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 Atlanta radar (KFFC), 80 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 11:51 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

6 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.