EF2 tornado in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

Tornado January 12, 2023 · Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

EF2

Rating

39.0 mi

Whole path

600 yd

Path width

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Greene County → Hale County → Greene County → Hale County → Tuscaloosa County → Bibb County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 600 yards (0.34 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in the far southeast portion of Tuscaloosa County and determined that it was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum winds near 130 mph. This tornado originated in Greene County, crossed through northern Hale County and entered Tuscaloosa County near the intersection of Hale, Bibb, and Tuscaloosa Counties. The tornado path widened to nearly 600 yards once it crossed into Tuscaloosa County and shortly reached its maximum intensity.

The tornado was rated at 130 mph at this point due to a large swath of trees snapped at their bases. The tornado continued northeast crossing Highway 82 near Hagler, causing additional timber damage and some minor structural damage to two homes. The tornado weakened after crossing Highway 82 and into Bibb County.

The wider storm

Numerous strong to severe thunderstorms impacted Central Alabama during the morning and afternoon hours of Thursday, January 12th, 2023. Several supercell thunderstorms spawned multiple tornadoes which caused significant damage in many areas. The severe thunderstorms also produced damaging straight-line winds and hail up to golf ball size.

Began near Duncanville (33.0040, -87.4230).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF3 Autauga County 7 dead EF2 Winston County EF2 Sumter County EF2 Hale County EF2 Dallas County EF1 Perry County EF1 Barbour County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1076606. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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