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EF1 tornado in Choctaw County, Alabama

Tornado March 22, 2022 · Choctaw County, Alabama

EF1
Rating
0.2 mi
Path length
130 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 130 yards (0.07 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The storm produced likely straight line wind damage east of

Alabama SR 17 in Gilbertown. Sporadic tree damage was noted along

Clarke Road, Barrytown Road, and Mosley Bridge Road. The storm

continued to progress to the northeast for six miles and

eventually produced a high-end EF-1 tornado near Pleasant Hill

Road. Numerous trees were uprooted and snapped in the area. The

roof of a manufactured home was damaged partially due to wind and

snapped trees. The manufactured home was shifted off its

foundation and the nearby carport and shed were heavily damaged.

The tornado went on to lift the metal roof off the back end of a

nearby home. This resulted in substantial loss of its roofing. In

addition, the force of the wind moving through the home pushed the

front walls outward and blew out the front windows and part of

the roof frame. The debris from the home was lofted into the tops

of the trees across the road, with metal wrapped around trees.

While this was determined to be a short-lived tornado, its path

could have extended farther northeast; however, the survey team

could not assess any further damage due to the lack of road

access.

The wider storm

A strong storm system moving through the deep south. A line of thunderstorms developed ahead of this system and moved eastward. Ahead of the line, a very warm, moist and unstable environment developed which along with strong vertical shear, set the stage for an outbreak of severe thunderstorms across parts of southern United States. This event produced 3 tornadoes in southwest Alabama along with wind damage.

Began near Wimberly (31.9457, -88.2364).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

2 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1013194. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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