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EF1 tornado in Montgomery County, Alabama

Tornado December 29, 2024 · Montgomery County, Alabama

EF1
Rating
10.0 mi
Path length
500 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 500 yards (0.28 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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

A tornado began along Hobbie Road and Hillabee Road with a few uprooted trees and broken limbs. Tree damage gradually became more concentrated as the tornado moved northeastward, with a home south of Ridgeland Farms Road having the top of a pine tree fall on it. Several trees were uprooted across wooded areas before the tornado arrived at Mount Zion Road, where numerous pine trees were snapped or uprooted, one of which fell into the corner of a double-wide manufactured home. Significant splatter was observed on the east facing side of the double-wide. A couple sheds nearby sustained damage as well. Numerous trees were uprooted northeastward across wooded areas and pastures to Woodley Road and further to U.S. 231. Here, the BBQ Hill business sustained roof damage and had numerous pine trees snapped or uprooted on the premises. More trees were downed and an outbuilding was damaged along Old Carter Hill Road as the tornado dissipated. Maximum estimated winds were 100 mph.

The wider storm

A quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) entered western Alabama from Mississippi just after 9 PM on December 28. With ample wind shear and adequate instability with the line as it passed through Central Alabama, 18 confirmed tornadoes were spawned within different line segments as the QLCS pushed eastward. Of the 18 tornadoes, 6 were rated EF1, including one that had a mile-wide path in Hale County near Sawyerville and two tornadoes that struck areas of central Montgomery County. An EF0 in Lowndes County resulted in two injuries. In addition, strong gusts associated with the QLCS resulted in scattered areas of non-tornadic wind damage.

Began near Sprague (32.1316, -86.2238).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1222525. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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