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EF1 tornado in Houston County, Alabama

Tornado January 2, 2017 · Houston County, Alabama

EF1

Rating

2.5 mi

Path length

200 yd

Path width

$100K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 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

An EF1 tornado with max winds near 100 mph touched down along E. Cottonwood Road SE of Dothan, AL. The tornado traveled east for approx. 2.5 miles along McCallister Road before lifting near Rosewood Dr. One home had its roof removed. Others had significant shingle damage which supported the EF1 rating. Damage cost was estimated.

The wider storm

Multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms affected the region to start the year. Two day rainfall totals in excess of 8 inches were common across portions of the Florida panhandle with several roads flooded. Severe weather, including tornadoes and significant straight line wind damage, also occurred across the tri-state area with most of it in southeast Alabama and southwest Georgia. Albany was particularly hard hit with significant wind damage. There were a total of 5 fatalities across the tri-state area from straight line winds. There was also 1 fatality in Florida due to river flooding.

Began near Ardilla (31.1818, -85.3700).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Geneva County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 670345. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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