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EF1 tornado in Greene County, Alabama

Tornado January 3, 2015 · Greene County, Alabama

EF1
Rating
1.6 mi
Path length
400 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 400 yards (0.23 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in Greene County and confirmed the damage was produced by a tornado. The tornado touched down on County Road 117, south of County Road 115. The tornado nearly paralleled County Road 117 for its entire duration with damage on both side of the road. Damage was light at the beginning of the path with only branches off trees. The damage intensified along the path and dozens of hardwoods and softwoods were snapped off or uprooted. One home had a large tree fall on it causing major damage. One mobile home suffered minor skirting damage and a few outbuildings were damaged.

The wider storm

A surface low tracked northeast across northern Mississippi and northwest Alabama Saturday afternoon and evening. An upper level disturbance moving out of the southwest United States providing ample lift and shear increased as the surface low deepened. The frontal system progressed slowly eastward, and this allowed for widespread rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches.

Began near West Greene (32.9596, -88.1268).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 556258. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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