EF1 tornado in Jefferson County, Alabama

An EF-1 tornado touched down just west of US Highway 31 in the Southwood community, just east of Lakeshore Foundation. Numerous softwood trees were knocked down across Old Montgomery Highway and Ashley Road, with some on homes. The tornado tracked east, nearly paralleling Lakeshore Drive/Shades Creek Parkway. At this point the tornado was near its maximum EF-1 intensity and also its widest point of 200 yards. Several houses on the north side of Shades Creek Parkway along Yorkshire Drive, Devon Drive, and Windsor Drive were damaged by falling trees. Power poles were snapped as well. The north facing side of Brookwood Mall also sustained minor structural damage. The very narrow tornado passed through the interchange of US Highway 280 and Shades Creek Parkway, with tree and power line damage noted around the interchange. The tornado moved northeastward across Cahaba Road and up a ridge, with a defined area of tree damage consisting of uproots and snapped limbs and tree tops. The last observable damage occurred at the top of the ridge along Cherokee Road.

A pre-frontal line of thunderstorms tracked eastward across Alabama around and just after midnight on December 10th. A segment of the line intensified over Jefferson County, producing two tornadoes and a large swath of wind damage. Elsewhere, two weak tornadoes were spawned over parts of southeast Central Alabama.