EF2 tornado in Dekalb County, Alabama

A strong tornado tracked from Etowah into DeKalb County producing damage of EF-2 intensity. Just south of where CR 4 and 450 meet, a manufactured home was completely destroyed. The undercarriage was so badly mangled and twisted up, it was nearly unrecognizable. Trees were also debarked at this location.

Where CR 4/450 and 455 meet, a single-story home was heavily damaged and shifted off its foundation. Nearly the entire roof was lifted. The tornado continued to produce damage as it tracked northeast, crossing CR 25. The tornado was at least 1/4 mile wide at this point with noticeable damage seen along CR 4 (east of the center track) and CR 455 (west of the track). The tornado then took a slight jog to the north and crossed CR 457 and 29 where several homes sustained significant loss of roof covering/shingles and trees were either snapped or uprooted. The tornado appeared to enter a weakening phase at this point. On the west side of the track, a small farm outbuilding collapsed and a large oak tree fell on top of a home along CR 29. Trees were either uprooted or snapped along CR 1920. The tornado crossed CR 4 again (just north of CR 1920) and approached the higher terrain/ridgetop area west of Dugout and Little Sand Valley. Trees were seen snapped or uprooted. A barn was destroyed along CR 4, just south of Coal Creek. The tornado had narrowed significantly by this point but was still producing winds between 80-90 mph.

Nearing the end of its life, the tornado crossed Highway 227 over the higher terrain, snapping and uprooting a narrow corridor of trees. Just north of highway 227, along CR 12 just north of Hayes Gap, additional trees were snapped. No additional/definitive damage was seen north of this location, so the tornado is believed to have lifted in the higher terrain just north of CR 12 and west of CR 221 in southern DeKalb County, about 4 miles southeast of Crossville.

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.