EF0 tornado in Jefferson County, Alabama

The National Weather Service surveyed damage in western Jefferson County and determined that an EF-0 tornado occurred, embedded within a larger area of straight-line wind damage. The tornado began south of Lock 17 Rd near Betty Hill Rd, where several softwood trees were uprooted, knocking down power lines. An area of weak rotation was noted on radar associated with this damage and the feature continued to the section of Groundhog Rd in the area of Woods Creek. Here, extensive softwood tree damage was observed, with numerous trees uprooted and smaller trees snapped. Much of the treefall was found to be laying easterly to east-northeasterly, with overall storm motion to the southeast. Minor softwood tree damage associated with the same radar feature was observed along Mud Creek Rd north of the Groundhog Rd intersection, with a couple uprooted trees and several limbs down.

A shortwave trough moved through the region on March 9, with a broken line of thunderstorms sliding east-southeastward across Central Alabama during the evening hours. These storms produced sporadic instances of wind damage across the northern half of Central Alabama, with the most concentrated area of damage being across Jefferson County. In addition to straight-line wind damage, an EF-0 tornado was confirmed in western Jefferson County.