EF2 Tornado — Hale, Alabama

2023-01-12 · near Arcola, Hale, Alabama

Event narrative

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in southern Hale County and determined that it was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum winds near 115 mph. The tornado touched down in a remote area of Hale County, near Clements Bend on the Black Warrior River. The tornado tracked northeast and across County Road 35, where numerous trees were uprooted on a farm near the State Cattle Ranch. From there, it continued to snap and uproot numerous trees in a largely rural area, before causing considerable damage to the roof of a house along Highway 69. The tornado intensified to EF2 strength as it approached the southern part of the city of Greensboro. Along Highway 25, it snapped and uprooted numerous trees, rolled and destroyed a single-wide manufactured home, and caused lighter damage to several other structures. The remaining damage along the path was mostly to timber, including Highway 61 just southeast of Greensboro, and County Road 14 just east of the city. The tornado weakened as it crossed into Perry County near Griffin Cemetery Road.

Wider weather episode

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.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.6221, -87.7543)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1076616. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.