EF2 Tornado — Talladega, Alabama

2025-03-15 · near Winterboro, Talladega, Alabama

Event narrative

National Weather Service Meteorologists surveyed damage in the

town of Winterboro and just to the northeast and determined that

the damage was consistent with a tornado. The tornado touched

down just to the southwest of Winterboro High School, damaging

the football press box and surrounding baseball and softball

fields. The tornado quickly intensified as it reached the Old

Winterboro High School building, lifting a school bus onto the

side of the gymnasium. The gymnasium sustained significant

damage, with walls mostly collapsed on more than one side. Winds

were estimated to be around 120 mph at this location, where

wooden power poles were also snapped. Debris from the collapsed

gymnasium was blown across State Highway 76, and the old school

building also sustained roof damage. The tornado continued to the

northeast, where numerous trees were snapped and uprooted and

homes sustained damage due to falling trees at the intersection

of Highway 76 and 21. As the tornado moved parallel to Bob White

Road, it maintained EF-2 intensity along the roadway and

destroyed a single-wide manufactured home. The debris from the

home was blown westward across Bob White Road. One fatality

occurred at this location. Outside of the peak intensity of the

tornado, some homes and farm outbuildings sustained roof damage

on the far eastern edge of the path on Bob White Road. The

tornado continued northeastward, weakening as it crossed Bullocks

Ferry Road and finally lifting just to the northeast of Whiting

Road and Lawler Circle. The tornado totaled 3.63 miles and had an

estimated width of 500 yards.

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 → (33.3194, -86.2005)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1233334. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.