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EF2 tornado in Sumter County, Alabama

Tornado March 15, 2025 · Sumter County, Alabama

EF2
Rating
3.3 mi
Path length
650 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 650 yards (0.37 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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

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.

The wider storm

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.

Began near York Mallard Arpt (32.4847, -88.2078).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1233325. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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