Thunderstorm Wind — Houston, Alabama

2017-01-02 · near Merritts Crossroads, Houston, Alabama

Event narrative

An NWS Survey Team determined that some damage in the Rehobeth area was caused by strong straight line winds on the southern flank of a tornado just to the north. Damage consisted of numerous large trees snapped or uprooted. One mobile home was split by a large tree, resulting in four fatalities. The damage pattern along this path was not convergent and was noticeably south of the path of the tornado vortex. Damage cost was estimated.

Wider weather episode

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.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.1095, -85.4856)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 670350. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.