EF1 tornado in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

A tornado touched down in Northeastern Tuscaloosa County just east of the Black Warrior River and then traveled into Jefferson County. The tornado initially touched down one mile west of Groundhog Road, approximately 3 miles northwest of Bull City. Here, dozens of soft and hardwood trees were snapped or uprooted. The tornado then traveled to the northeast with winds of 100 MPH, snapping and uprooting hundreds of trees along the track. It then crossed into Jefferson County, eventually lifting along Toadvine Road, just southwest of Short Creek. Merchantable timber losses estimated by the Alabama Forestry Commission for this track are approximately $5K.

An upper level low pressure system developed over the Great Plains and moved east across the Ohio River Valley, dragging a cold front through the lower Mississippi River Valley. As the cold front moved through Arkansas, a squall line formed, producing severe thunderstorms to areas west of Alabama. As the cold front progressed eastward, individual supercells developed in advance of the front and moved through Alabama during the early morning hours on January 23rd. Several long track supercells produced strong, long track tornadoes.