EF3 Tornado — Choctaw, Alabama

2011-04-27 · near Cyril, Choctaw, Alabama

Event narrative

The tornado was already on the ground as it moved out of extreme northeastern Clarke County Mississippi into northern Choctaw County Alabama approximately 4 miles to the southwest of the community of Yantley. The tornado then remained on the ground as it moved east across the entire width of extreme northern Choctaw county, before exiting the county by crossing the Tombigbee river north of the

community of Oakchia. The tornado nearly paralleled County Road 32 as it moved east across the county, producing EF-3 damage. Considerable tree damage was noted along the entire path, with many trees snapped off above ground level in a 500 yard wide path. Extensive damage to homes and other structures was also noted. A few homes had their roof taken off and exterior walls collapsed. Several manufactured homes along the path of the tornado were also completely destroyed. Property damage to homes is estimated to be near 2 million dollars, with widespread damage to timber resulting in losses near 6.6 million dollars.

Wider weather episode

On the afternoon and evening of 27 April 2011, a historic outbreak of large, very damaging tornadoes occurred over the southern United States. The majority of the tornadoes occurred across the northern half of Mississippi and Alabama, however along the southern edge of the severe thunderstorm complex a supercell thunderstorm formed just southeast of Jackson Mississippi and tracked eastward across northern Choctaw County Alabama before moving into portions of south central Alabama. This supercell thunderstorm produced a continuous tornado track that was nearly 123 miles long.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.2143, -88.4327)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 296236. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.