TornadoLookup

Home / Alabama / Winston

EF2 tornado in Winston County, Alabama

Tornado November 29, 2016 · Winston County, Alabama

EF2
Rating
3.6 mi
Whole path
300 yd
Path width

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Winston County → Winston County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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 eastern Winston County in the Ashridge Community and determined that the damage was consistent with an EF-2 tornado, with maximum winds estimated near 125 mph.

The tornado touched down along County Road 55 just north of Macedonia Road. This location was about 4 miles northwest of Double Springs or 2 miles south of Ashridge. At the beginning point, one home lost a portion of its roof covering. The tornado moved north northeast and almost paralleled County Road 55. A chicken house sustained significant damage and one home suffered roof damage on County Road 3182. The tornado increased its intensity and width as it entered the Bankhead National Forest near Ashridge. Several homes and outbuildings sustained damage and numerous trees were snapped or uprooted. The EF-2 damage occurred just off County Road 55 south of Ashridge. Two mobile homes and one outbuilding were totally destroyed. Numerous power poles and trees were blown down. The tornado continued north northeast and crossed Alabama Highway 195, County Road 2 and eventually lifted near Jim Brown Road. Several structures sustained damage and many trees were snapped off on this final section of the tornado path.

The wider storm

A warm front moved northward during the day on Tuesday, November 29th, and surface temperatures climbed into the 70s across north Alabama. Low level shear and storm relative helicity increased over west Alabama Tuesday evening and discrete supercells developed over west Alabama.

Began near Pleasant Hill (34.1946, -87.4701).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Winston CountyEF1 Pickens CountyEF1 Winston CountyEF1 Lamar CountyEF1 Marion CountyEF1 Marengo CountyEF1 Lee CountyEF0 Marion CountyEF0 Fayette County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 668078. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.