EF2 Tornado — Lee, Alabama

2009-02-28 · near Salem, Lee, Alabama

Event narrative

The tornado touched down southwest of the community of Salem. It then moved just north of due east, crossing US-280 and several smaller county roads, before lifting at CR-379. Winds estimated at 125-130 mph destroyed 6 mobile homes and 4 site built homes, badly damaged 8 homes, and caused minor damage to 9 others. Two area businesses were destroyed, one other received minor damage, and one school building was damaged. Hundreds of trees were snapped off and uprooted, and one 18-wheeler was overturned. There were three minor injuries reported, only one that required hospitalization.

Wider weather episode

A slow moving cold front brought an extended period of severe weather and heavy rain, that lasted about 24 hours. The storms produced damaging winds, large hail, flooding rains, and at least 4 tornadoes.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.5890, -85.2596)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 156734. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.