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EF2 tornado in Tallapoosa County, Alabama

Tornado March 2, 2012 · Tallapoosa County, Alabama

EF2
Rating
34.0 mi
Whole path
1,000 yd
Path width
1
Death
4
Injuries

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Tallapoosa County → Chambers County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,000 yards (0.57 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

A tornado touched down just west of Highway 63 in western Tallapoosa County, where it uprooted and snapped scores of trees. It continued northeastward and passed just north of Wind Creek State Park, where it produced significant and widespread tree damage between Highway 128 and the shores of Lake Martin. The tornado caused significant damage to several homes in the Pineywoods Area. It then crossed Lake Martin and came ashore in the River Bend Subdivision, where it snapped or uprooted hundreds more trees. The tornado continued moving to the northeast and crossed Highway 280, just west of Midway, producing minor tree damage. It passed north of Jacksons Gap and passed just south of Eagle Creek, where it widened to over one-quarter mile. It destroyed one double-wide manufactured home and two single-wides. As the storm crossed Alabama 49, it lofted and destroyed a single-wide manufactured home, fatally injuring one individual. The tornado path broadened to approximately 1000 yards as it crossed Elder Road. Farther to the east, approximately 14 homes received mainly roof damage and scores of trees were snapped or uprooted on Buttston Road, just north of Denver Road. The tornado continued into eastern Tallapoosa County, and then moved into Chambers County, where it eventually lifted.

The wider storm

On March 2, 2012, a strong cold front moved through Central Alabama. Severe thunderstorms developed along and ahead of this front. Some of these thunderstorms were supercells. These supercells produced damage across southern and eastern sections of the area. Damaging straight line winds, tornadoes, large hail and localized flooding occurred with this event.

Began near Our Town (32.8666, -85.9669).

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 374385. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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