EF1 Tornado — Marion, Alabama

2024-06-05 · near Winfield, Marion, Alabama

Event narrative

An EF1 tornado developed in Fayette County before moving into the Winfield area of Marion County. The tornado began to intensify as it approached US HWY 43 to the west of Winfield. Several trees were uprooted and snapped on Pike Road and Pleasant Drive, and a couple of the homes on these roads sustained minor shingle damage, although one tree did fall on a home. As the tornado crossed US HWY 43, it produced minor cosmetic damage to a few of the stores within the Foodland strip mall, and some of the glass doors were blown out. The highest degree of damage was first noted from Silverleaf Road to Rosewood Street where a large concentration of uprooted and snapped trees was observed. Fortunately, structural damage was quite limited in this area despite the amount of tree fall. Winds in this area were estimated up to 95 mph. The tornado continued northeast across State Highway 253 and County Highway 47 where the timber damage once again became more sporadic, consisting mostly of snapped branches and an occasional uprooted softwood. The tornado lifted in a wooded area shortly after crossing Riley Harp Road. The total path length of the tornado across both counties was 7.23 miles.

Wider weather episode

An intensifying line of thunderstorms moved eastward from Mississippi into Alabama during the late afternoon hours of June 5. Numerous reports of wind damage were received west of Interstate 65 as the line and two leading cells progressed toward the northeast. Additionally, two EF-1 tornadoes were produced within the line, one that occurred along the MS/AL state line near Bexar in far western Marion County and another that moved out of Fayette County and struck parts of Winfield in southeast Marion County. The intensity of the thunderstorms quickly diminished as the line pushed east of I-65 by sunset.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.9194, -87.8620)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1171276. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.