EF1 tornado, Carrollton to Owens, Alabama, January 5, 2025

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

January 5, 2025

Touchdown

8:53 PM CST (02:53 UTC)

Lifted

9:02 PM CST (03:02 UTC)

On the ground

9 minutes

Path length

6.9 miles (11.2 km)

Path width

300 yards (274 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Pickens County

Touchdown point

33.294, -88.171

Lift-off point

33.313, -88.054

Record number

2501052053-01

18 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.

• Estimated start point based on TDS. Inaccessible by road.
• Two large trees uprooted near lake.
• Several trees down and/or large branches broken off.
• Power lines down across road. Small wooden pole snapped.

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

A line of thunderstorms moved into western Alabama during the evening hours of January 5. Although instability values were limited and little lightning existed within the line, wind shear values were favorable for tornadoes. One storm within the line produced a low-end EF1 tornado that impacted parts of Pickens County around 9 PM.

NWS meteorologists conducted a storm survey on January 6 that|revealed an EF1 tornado that impacted parts of Pickens County the|previous evening. The tornado began over an inaccessible area|southeast of Zach Simon Road and moved east-northeastward for|nearly seven miles. Along County Road 7, a house had metal|roofing removed, and several pine and cedar trees were downed or|had limbs broken off. The tornado was at its widest and strongest|point along Pine Grove Road, where numerous trees were downed,|including a stand of pine trees along the road of which|approximately 15-20 trunks were snapped. Power lines were downed|by falling trees. A couple uprooted pine trees fell onto a garage|and the adjacent house sustained partial roof loss. More trees|were uprooted and limbs were snapped as the tornado moved across|a farm along McDaniel Road. The path became more narrow along|McShane Road/Phoenix Avenue, where several trees were downed on|both sides of the road in a 125 yard-wide swath. Along County|Road 12, a few more trees and limbs were downed, and a small|wooden power pole was snapped, causing the power lines to fall.|Along Highway 17 near Herbert Windle Road, a couple trees were|downed near a house and across the highway several cedar limbs|were downed near another house. The tornado is estimated to have|ended at this point.

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

7 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 02:46 UTC, 7 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 03:11 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 00:34 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.

Tuscaloosa Municipal (TCL), 47 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 69 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:52 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 2025 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

11 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.