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EF2 tornado in Cullman County, Alabama

Tornado April 24, 2010 · Cullman County, Alabama

EF2
Rating
5.8 mi
Path length
300 yd
Path width
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

An EF-2 tornado touched down on Highway 31 just south of the County Road 601 intersection. The tornado damaged roofs to two businesses in the Phelan community. The tornado then moved northeast and downed several power lines and snapped and uprooted over 100 pine and oak trees. Minor roof damage was observed on a house along County Road 601 and a carport was destroyed on County Road 747 in the Welti community. Tin roof debris from the chicken houses was thrown over one mile along the tornado's path. The tornado finally lifted on County Road 643 but no before causing roof damage to a barn and knocking down several trees.

The wider storm

Four damaging tornadoes tore tracks through north central and northeast Alabama during the evening and overnight hours of the 24th. These tornadoes were part of a larger regional tornado outbreak across the lower Mississippi and Tennessee Valleys. The tornadoes were associated with three separate long track supercell thunderstorms that thrived upon a very unstable and high shear environment. One of the longer track tornadoes tore through several successive communities with up to EF-3 strength in Marshall and DeKalb Counties, including the towns of Albertville, Geraldine and Pine Ridge, lifting just before reaching Fort Payne. A tornado from the same storm then touched down again in the Mentone area before crossing the Georgia state line. Another supercell produced yet another tornado southwest of Collinsville, tracking just a few miles south of the earlier damaging tornado. This tornado reached EF-4 strength when it completely leveled the McNutt United Methodist Church on County Road 55. Fortunately, no fatalities occurred with these particular tornadoes, but damages were severe.

In Marshall County, total costs from the tornado had exceeded $14 million, which included 1032 homes experiencing at least some damage, and 93 homes destroyed. In DeKalb County, damage losses were still being tallied. Debris removal costs alone have exceeded $3 million.

Began near Midway (34.1036, -86.8062).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 220469. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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