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EF2 tornado in Blount County, Alabama

Tornado April 19, 2009 · Blount County, Alabama

EF2
Rating
6.3 mi
Path length
300 yd
Path width
$400K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 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 touched down at the intersection of CR-27 and Jones Chapel Road. It then traveled northeastward and crossed Lake Rd, CR-29, Putman Road, and Hicks Road, before moving into Saint Clair County. Six chicken houses were completely destroyed, killing nearly 100,000 chickens. One home had its second story destroyed, and another home suffered a complete roof collapse. One large industrial barn was destroyed. Two additional homes, several more chicken sheds, and about 9 outbuilding also received varying degrees of damage. About 200 trees were snapped and uprooted.

The wider storm

A powerful spring storm system and associated cold front brought numerous thunderstorms to central Alabama. Many of the storms produced large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes.

Began near Mattawana (33.8605, -86.4420).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Russell CountyEF1 Perry CountyEF1 Perry CountyEF1 Montgomery CountyEF1 St. Clair CountyEF0 Hale CountyEF0 Shelby CountyEF0 Shelby CountyEF0 Montgomery CountyEF0 Bullock County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 168543. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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