EF2 Tornado — Sumter, Alabama

2025-03-15 · near York Mallard Arpt, Sumter, Alabama

Event narrative

The tornado began in a densely wooded area east of Loon Curl Road

within a private hunting camp. It tracked northeast towards

County Road 13, crossing through and destroying several pine

groves along its path. In the area of most intense damage, a pine

grove featured hundreds of snapped trees along a width of roughly

500 yards. The EF2 rating was determined strictly from this area

of concentrated tree damage. The tornado began to weaken as it

crossed County Road 13 just south of Alamuchee Creek, where

multiple softwood trees were uprooted and a few were snapped. It

continued northeast where it then crossed a dirt road just east

of County Road 13 where it produced sporadic tree damage. The

tornado dissipated shortly thereafter.

Wider weather episode

A significant severe weather event unfolded across Central Alabama on March 15, with 15 tornadoes, several instances of straight-line wind damage, and isolated flooding. An initial round of storms during the early morning brought reports of large hail in Pickens and Walker counties, followed by an afternoon round with several strong, long-track tornadoes. Of the 15 tornadoes, five were rated EF-2 and two were EF-3. Nine of the 15 tornadoes tracked over 10 miles, with the longest path being an EF-2 tornado that traversed 39.48 miles across Tuscaloosa and Walker counties, striking the town of Sipsey. An EF-3 tornado in Plantersville in Dallas County resulted in two fatalities and two injuries, while an EF-2 tornado in Winterboro in Talladega County had one fatality and one injury. The second EF-3 tornado struck Tallapoosa County, reaching peak intensity in Horseshoe Bend National Military Park. Near the end of the event, an EF-2 tornado moved across southern and eastern parts of Troy, with three injuries being documented.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.4847, -88.2078)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1233325. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.