F3 Tornado — Tallapoosa, Alabama

1996-03-18 · near Eclectic, Tallapoosa, Alabama

14.0 mi

Path length

440 yds

Path width

Wider weather episode

A tornado began on the northeast side of Eclectic and extended for 10 miles in Elmore County crossing the Elmore-Tallapoosa county line just east of Highway 63. The tornado continued for another 14 miles in Tallapoosa County crossing Lake Martin and ending on the north side of Jacksons Gap not far from where a tornado had occurred earlier in the evening. This was classified as an F3 tornado with a total damage path of 24 miles with a width of a quarter of a mile at the widest.Numerous buildings of all types were damaged along the track. Some of the most intense damage occurred as the tornado emerged from crossing Lake Martin in the Peckerwood area just southwest of Jacksons Gap. Numerous permanent homes and mobile homes were seriously damaged or destroyed.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.2500, -85.9200)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5547171. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.