EF3 Tornado — Limestone, Alabama

2014-04-28 · near Wheeler Lake North, Limestone, Alabama

Event narrative

A tornado rapidly intensified over Wheeler Lake resulting in extensive damage across southwest Limestone County.

Significant damage occurred at the Bay Hill Marina in Limestone County where a 2-story condominium was destroyed and a large metal building structure (used to store boats) sustained nearly complete failure of its exterior frame. Additional residences and condos had roof and exterior wall/siding damage and numerous large trees were snapped or uprooted. Several docks with metal protective coverings were destroyed. The tornado was near its peak intensity across this area, with winds between 120 and 140 mph.

The tornado continued east-northeast snapping numerous power poles near their bases along Snake Road. Along Log Cabin Road, just South of Highway 72, several homes sustained significant (if not complete) roof loss along with partial collapse of exterior walls. One single-family residence slid several feet off its concrete slab foundation. A trailer was also completely destroyed. The tornado maintained high-end EF-2/low-end EF-3 strength as it crushed Billy Barb's Trailer Park on Highway 72 in the Coxey community. 25 units were completely destroyed or uninhabitable. Two confirmed fatalities occurred at this location, with at least a dozen others injured. Debris was thrown across Highway 72 near Gordon/New Cut Road. The tornado crossed Highway 72 entering a mainly rural area of Limestone County. Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted on either side of Highway 72 between Blue Springs Road and Parker Road.

The last significant area of damage occurred at a neighborhood community near the intersection of Seven Mile Post and Guinn Road. At this 10-acre location, nearly every home (concrete masonry unit) sustained some damage with at least a half dozen destroyed. One unit was swept clean off its foundation but was not anchored/secured to its foundation. The tornado continued east-northeast producing mainly EF-0 and EF-1 damage, minor roof/siding damage and snapped or uprooted trees, before gradually lifting just north of Athens near the intersection of West Elm Street and North Jefferson Street.

It should be noted that sporadic damage (mainly trees snapped or uprooted) was seen extending at least 1/2 to 1 mile on either side of the center track of this tornado. This damage was not included in the path width.

Wider weather episode

A tornado outbreak occurred during the late afternoon and evening across the central Tennessee Valley on the 28th. Several cyclic supercells produced tornadoes, some of which were strong. Very heavy rainfall occurred in some areas as well. In particular, up to 5 inches fell in just a few hours which led to severe flash flooding in Valley Head.

An additional round of thunderstorms late in the day/evening of the 29th produced a few reports of damaging winds and hail.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.7753, -87.2324)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 505288. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.