EF1 Tornado — Dallas, Alabama

2024-04-02 · near Plantersville, Dallas, Alabama

Event narrative

The tornado began in a wooded area just east of the Perry/Dallas County line. It quickly reached its peak intensity of 95 mph as it crossed County Road 272 where dozens of trees were snapped or uprooted, blocking the roadway for over a quarter of a mile as it paralleled the road. Additional trees were downed along County Roads 290 and 305, but the tornado weakened as it approached Plantersville. Still, several trees were downed along Dallas County 560 and Highway 22 in Plantersville. The tornado then crossed into Chilton County.

Wider weather episode

A surface low positioned over Lake Michigan moved an associated cold front through Central Alabama during the evening of April 2. While a widespread severe weather outbreak unfolded to the north, Alabama saw more concentrated areas of severe weather across northern and central counties in the state. After 10 PM CDT April 2, a small mesoscale convective vortex developed within a broken line of thunderstorms, spawning four tornadoes and areas of wind damage across northern Dallas, southern Chilton, and central and eastern Coosa counties. Three of the tornadoes were rated EF1, with damage primarily consisting of trees and sporadic small structures.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.6410, -87.0398)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1161490. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.