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EF2 tornado in Dekalb County, Alabama

Tornado March 18, 2013 · Dekalb County, Alabama

EF2
Rating
12.2 mi
Whole path
220 yd
Path width
10
Injuries

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 220 yards (0.12 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 tracked east from Marshall County along County Road 381. The tornado struck the Kilpatrick community along County Road 479 injuring 7 residents of mobile homes. Very large hardwood trees were snapped near the base. Numerous power poles were snapped at the base. Several mobile homes sustained significant damage with at least two completely destroyed. Several convectional homes sustained minor to moderate exterior damage in this area as well. At this location, the tornado was at its maximum width (220 yards) and intensity (estimated winds of 125 mph). The tornado continued to move east producing substantial damage to a large livestock building near the intersection of Highways 68 and 168. Metal from the roof that was damaged at the Sand Mountain Stockyards was blown down the road for around a mile. The convenience store at that point suffered minor roof damage. A semi truck pulling a trailer on Alabama 168 from the Family Dollar store chain was knocked onto its side by the high winds. The tornado continued to parallel Highway 68. A car wash sustained significant structural damage. A mobile home was flipped and destroyed near the intersection of Highway 68 and County Road 9004. The tornado narrowed and lifted near the intersection of Highway 68 and County Road 113.

The wider storm

An active severe weather episode was produced by two quasi-linear convective systems. The first developed during the midday hours across middle Tennessee into northwest Alabama, while another which originated as a small convective cluster in central Arkansas rapidly intensified and raced eastward through northern Mississippi into north Alabama during the afternoon hours. Numerous reports of wind damage, large hail and four tornadoes. Two of the tornadoes injured ten people and produced significant damage to mobile homes, trees, and power poles.

Began near Kilpatrick (34.2678, -86.1076).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 439571. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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