A four-sided brick home in the same areaonly lost a roof and no exterior walls, which is indicative of EF-2 damage. The tornado crossed University Blvd in the Alberta City community. The first was an EF-2 tornado that carved a 35.17-mile path through parts of Choctaw and Marengo counties. The tornado warning for Shelby and Talladega Counties has been cancelled. Any relatively discrete supercells will be capable of multiple tornadoes, some long-tracked/strong to violent (EF2-5 possible) w/considerable destructive potential, wrote the Storm Prediction Center. Weather radar detected an enormous debris ball as the storm passed through Centreville, Ala, about 30 miles southeast of Tuscaloosa, indicating materials from the ground lofted high into the air and significant damage. On May 2, 2011, the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASAs Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite captured this natural-color image of the tornado track through Tuscaloosa. By the time the tornado reachedInterstate 65, it was evident that the storm was losing its energy. It continued on, with wind speeds reaching 210 mph, leaving a trail of devastation in Phil Campbell and Tanner. Severe Storms. Linhares added that using that definition, 95 of 2,505 tornadoes, or 3.8 percent, qualify as long-track tornadoes. The tornado that killed seven people in Autauga County had a path that was 82 miles long and stretched through several counties. Late Thursday evening, a third long-track tornadic storm developed near Wadley, Ala., about 60 miles northwest of Montgomery, and raced east-northeast into north Georgia, south of Atlanta. in Greene County. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Air Quality Storms ranged from momentary supercells that laid waste to trees and power lines, to mile-wide behemoths leaving paths of more than a hundred miles through several counties. Winding and meandering road networks make it impossible to escape a tornado if youre caught on the roadways, too. Tuscaloosa AL US 35487-0104: Primary Place of Performance Congressional District: 07: Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): RCNJEHZ83EV6 . In addition, several cinder block homes were completely destroyed with debris swept away (EF-4). A tornado warning is in effect until 2 p.m. for the general area. "Some people designate this as a. "Just as cities and towns from all over Alabama came together to support Tuscaloosa in the aftermath of the devastating April 27, 2011 tornado, the City of Tuscaloosa will support the City of Selma on their road to recovery," Mayor Walt Maddox said when the drive was . EF-3 damage in the Kingston area of Autauga County, Buy newspaper front pages, posters and more. Light poles were damaged along Interstate 65, and a Days Inn and several other commercial buildings sustained major damage along US 31 before the tornado began to rapidly narrow and weaken. The warning is in effect until 6 p.m. as the radar-confirmed tornado potentially tracks just north of the twister earlier in the afternoon that passed near Pell City and Ohatchee. One fatality was reported in Coweta County, home to Newnan, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Alberta Elementary School suffered nearly complete destruction, with only a few portions of walls still standing. The warnings are in effect until 6 p.m. 3:55 p.m.: Tornado warning in northwest Georgia from same rotating storm that tracked across Alabama. US Dept of Commerce Numerous other homes in the area were destroyed with only a few interior walls left standing. At 12:30 p.m. the Weather Service issued a particularly dangerous situation tornado warning for a confirmed large and very dangerous tornado about 15 miles southeast of Tuscaloosa. in Greene County. Storm Spotters (SKYWARN) List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks, Bridge Creek, Moore, & Oklahoma City (Metro), OK, "Day 4-8 Severe Weather Outlook Issued on Apr 23, 2011", "Day 4-8 Severe Weather Outlook Issued on Apr 24, 2011", "Apr 25, 2011 0730 UTC Day 3 Severe Thunderstorm Outlook", "Apr 27, 2011 1200 UTC Day 1 Convective Outlook", "Apr 27, 2011 1300 UTC Day 1 Convective Outlook", "Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS) Tornado Watch 235", "Storms, Tornadoes Leave Dozens Dead in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee", "Tuscaloosa-Birmingham EF-4 Tornado April 27, 2011", "Tuscaloosa-Birmingham Tornado - April 27, 2011", "Discriminating EF4 and EF5 Tornado Damage", "Damage Survey of the Tuscaloosa-Birmingham Tornado on April 27, 2011", "THE AFTERMATH: Staff accounts of the tornado", "Obama In Tuscaloosa: 'I've Never Seen Devastation Like This', "Six UA students included in list of tornado deaths", Interview with Storm Chaser of April 27 Tuscaloosa Tornado, Full video of this tornado taken by the above storm chaser from Tuscaloosa University Mall parking lot, Full episode of Discovery Channel's Storm Chasers about the Tuscaloosa Tornado, "Normalized Damage from Major Tornadoes in the United States: 18901999", 10.1175/1520-0434(2001)016<0168:NDFMTI>2.0.CO;2, List of tornadoes in the 2011 Super Outbreak, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2011_TuscaloosaBirmingham_tornado&oldid=1141443200, 2011 natural disasters in the United States, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, April 27, 2011, 6:14p.m. CDT (UTC05:00), 64 fatalities (+8 indirect), 1,500+ injuries, This page was last edited on 25 February 2023, at 02:47. Alabama was hit the worst, with the first reported tornado hitting Marion and others hitting Tuscaloosa, Chilton County, and other locales. Running roughly parallel to the tornado track is a contrail from a plane. See all of AL.coms April 27, 2011 anniversary coverage here. To the east of US-31, the damage quickly diminished from EF-2 intensity to EF-1 and EF-0. [1] As a shortwave trough tracked across portions of the Mid-South and southeastern United States, moderate instability and strong wind shear ahead of a trailing cold front was expected to promote the development of supercell thunderstorms capable of producing tornadoes, large hail, and damaging winds. At least five manufactured homes were blown away with their frames thrown considerable distances, the weather service said. The tornado killed seven people and injured several others and caused widespread damage along its long path. Housing type, which includes large numbers of mobile homes, and the structure of communities, coupled with population density, puts more people in harms way, while trees and thick vegetation, along with rain-wrapped storms, frequently make it impossible to see a tornado coming. The storm injured more than 1,000 people as it tracked through three counties. He stated further that he had already declared a federal state of emergency in Alabama.[23]. WATCH: Drone footage shows Alabama tornado devastation in Selma The weather service in Birmingham released some preliminary results early Friday afternoon. Social media footage provides ground truth: Awful, awful, awful damage in Centreville, AL. View annotated composite image. Drought Monitor Public Information Statement The South is even more vulnerable, research shows. For example, from Thursday's storms, there are just over 30 tornado reports in Alabama. Acquired May 4, 2011, this false-color image shows a tornado track near Birmingham, Alabama. The tornado outbreak of April 27, 2011 cemented itself in the consciousness of every Alabamian who experienced it. One home on a foundation was swept clean, with only floor joists remaining attached to the foundation. Tuscaloosa, AL F4 Tornado - February 23, 1975 Published by Jen Narramore on February 23, 2019 Stats Path length: 14.4 miles Width: 500 yards Fatalities: 1 Injuries: 49 Rating: F4 County: Tuscaloosa Tornado Path Click Map To Enlarge SPC coordinates: Start: 33.08 / -87.60 End: 33.25 / -87.45 This was the first video evidence that the tornado had touched the ground; the video, along with NEXRAD evidence of a tornado debris signature, prompted the National Weather Service office in Birmingham to declare a tornado emergency. Along the way, it stripped a school bus down to its chassis. But weather forecasters were already warning of worse to come that afternoon. All rights reserved (About Us). Current Hazards By the time that tornado lifted just north of downtown Birmingham, it had covered 80.3 miles, reached up to about 1.5 miles wide, killed 64 people, injured over 1500, and caused . pic.twitter.com/ByAPwZ6JJK, 7:00 p.m.: Risk of tornadoes and severe weather lower but not eliminated into the evening. Storms will increase in areal coverage and intensity into early evening while shifting northeastward. It continued through a dense forest towards Birmingham, this time downing thousands of trees and flattening more rural homes. Hazardous Weather Outlook, Current Conditions On one road after another, pieces of buildings, furniture, appliances and trees were strewn about and vehicles came to rest in awkward positions . Residents across the Deep South NEED to prepare for significant weather today, including the very real potential for violent, long track tornadoes, wrote the Weather Service office in Jackson, Miss. Weather service meteorologist Mark Linhares said a long-track tornado has a path that is typically 25 miles or longer. Although not a main damage indicator, there was also evidence of vehicles being moved, but only a couple of feet. Among the dead are a family of three that lived in a wood-frame house in the small town of Ohatchee, along with a man and a woman who lived in mobile homes in Ohatchee and Wellington, respectively, county coroner Pat Brown told The Washington Post. Please select one of the following: After the tornado moved through the McDonald Chapel area, it moved into the area of Smithfield Estates, with significant home damage along Cherry Avenue between Daniel Payne Drive and Veterans Memorial Drive. Share. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Long-track tornadoes are nothing new in Alabama. Graphical Forecasts In all, 299 Alabamians were killed in the outbreak. made it through the collapse of a Hackleburg pharmacy. Another tornado, an EF-3, had a 29.24-mile path through Perry, Bibb and Shelby counties and injured two people. Entire neighborhoods are leveled. One of the deadly tornadoes that ripped through Lee County, Alabama, was upgraded Monday to an EF-4 after meteorologists determined it brought 170 mph winds and left a track almost a mile wide. These are scenes from Ohatchee, which is about 50 miles northeast of Birmingham: Major destruction from tornado just Southwest of Ohatchee, AL. *Note: This story was updated to reflect the adjusted path of the Autauga tornado, which upon further analysis from the National Weather Service had a path length of 82.31 miles. In Pratt City the tornado destroyed the library, damaged a fire station, and wiped away homes in several neighborhoods, such as Smithfield Estates. Special Weather Statements Tornado moving from west of Tuscaloosa, appearing to follow 15th St to the East, and then making its way towards what appeared to be the DCH and University Mall area. [9][10] Skycams operated by Tuscaloosa-based television station WVUA-CA (channel 7) as well as Birmingham Fox affiliate WBRC (channel 6) and ABC 33/40, and a ground-based camera crew with CBS affiliate WIAT (channel 42) captured video of the tornado as it struck Tuscaloosa. javascript is enabled. 6:16 p.m. - An EF-4 tornado with multiple vortices ripped a 33-mile path of destruction through Fyffe, Rainsville and Sylvania, destroying businesses and the Rainsville Civic Center. The storm cut an 80-mile path of destruction through the heart of Tuscaloosa, killing 44 people, including six University of Alabama students. The same tornadic thunderstorm which caused damage southeast of Birmingham had charged into northeast Alabama, near the border with Georgia where a tornado warning is in effect until 4 p.m. Between 7:00 a.m. CDT on April 25 and 7:00 a.m. on April 28, a total of 305 tornadoes struck the southeastern and central United States, according to a preliminary estimate from NOAA released May 4. It's hard to forget the gut-wrenching moments of 27 April 2011 when a massive EF4 tornado tore across the city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Local Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Data At least one death occurred here. After the tornado moved through the McDonald Chapel area, it moved into the area of Smithfield Estates, with significant home damage along Cherry Avenue between Daniel Payne Drive and Veterans Memorial Drive. It turns out another tornado from Thursday would also qualify as a long-track storm: The EF-1 twister that left a 30.4-mile-long track through parts of Lawrence, Morgan and Limestone counties in northwest Alabama. Past the coal yard, the tornado weakened to EF2 intensity, but still was able to destroy numerous pier and beam foundations homes and several industrial warehouses in McDonald Chapel. It then went on to impact parts of Birmingham at high-end EF4 intensity before dissipating. 4:43 p.m. - A large supercell beginning in Mississippi dropped an EF-4 tornado packing winds of up to 190 m.p.h. One of the cities hit hardest was Tuscaloosa, Ala. A nearly mile wide tornado cut a path though the town, killing 53 people, and injuring 1200 more. The flash flood warnings cover both Birmingham and Tuscaloosa where 2 to 3 inches of rain have fallen and flooding is underway or expected to begin. The storms deadliness recalled an April 2011 tornado that killed 13 in Calhoun County, Brown said. At that same time, the Tuscaloosa County Emergency Management Office sustained a direct hit and was totally destroyed along with most of their equipment and vehicles but with no injuries to the staff present. They need to have a plan in place NOW which includes having multiple ways to get warning information and [knowing] where to take shelter should a tornado warning be issued for their location., The sentiment was echoed by other Weather Service offices and broadcast meteorologists, the Weather Service in Birmingham writing the synoptic pattern checks nearly all the boxes for a Deep South/Tennessee Valley outbreak., Their neighboring office in Huntsville described the air mass as very unstable and downright volatile, while the Storm Prediction Center called the environment for violent, tornadic storms as uncommon, upper echelon.. Images of tornado damage near Tuscaloosa, Ala., seen on May 4, 2011. The storm did regenerate itself and eventually put down the EF-4tornado in the Ohatchee area. Severe Weather Preparedness 1:40 p.m.: Tornado emergency southeast of Birmingham for destructive twister with history of producing damage, The Weather Service in Birmingham declared a tornado emergency for Shelby County, which is just to the south and southeast of the city, for a confirmed large and destructive tornado, heading northeast at 45 mph. One of the cities hit hardest was Tuscaloosa, Ala. A nearly mile wide tornado cut a path though the town, killing 53 people, and injuring 1200 more. The storm is sweeping northeast at 40 mph and is expected to pass very close to Pell City momentarily. National Weather Service In all, 299 Alabamians were killed in the outbreak. A marina on Holt Lake was significantly impacted, with numerous boats and a restaurant destroyed; some boats were tossed over 330 feet (100m) in this area. 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