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EF1 tornado in Dekalb County, Alabama

Tornado April 3, 2015 · Dekalb County, Alabama

EF1
Rating
2.3 mi
Path length
75 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 75 yards (0.04 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

A tornado touched down in the Ider community of eastern DeKalb County, Alabama. The tornado first touched down along County Road 783. Numerous hardwood trees were snapped and uprooted. A small outbuilding was damaged near the intersection of County road 776. The tornado then tracked just north of County Road 776 before intersecting County Road 788.

Damage to trees was fairly widespread in this area. Several homes or buildings also received minor roof or structural damage. The tornado reached its maximum intensity just west of Alabama Highway 75. One home there sustained significant roof damage with the majority of the roof removed. An anchored outbuilding was destroyed and several over homes sustained minor damage. Also, a power pole was snapped off and many large hardwood trees were snapped about 20 feet above the ground.

The tornado then crossed Alabama Highway 75, snapping and uprooting trees along both sides of the road. The tornado began to weaken as it moved east-southeast, crossing County Road 372. Very minor roof damage was noted to a home and a few trees were uprooted. The tornado then dissipated on the east side of County Road 791 in the Cartersville, Alabama community after uprooting a few trees on the eastern slopes of Sand Mountain.

The wider storm

A cold front intersecting a warm and unstable environment led to a broken band of thunderstorms during the late afternoon and evening hours, some of which were supercellular in nature. These storms moved east-southeast at 35-45 mph and exited northern Alabama between 930 and 10 pm CDT. One tornado was confirmed in DeKalb County with a few narrow swaths of wind damage reported in other portions of north Alabama.

Began near Sulphur Spgs (34.7437, -85.6186).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 573132. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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