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EF1 tornado in Covington County, Alabama

Tornado June 21, 2017 · Covington County, Alabama

EF1
Rating
4.8 mi
Path length
75 yd
Path width
$50K
Damage as recorded
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

The tornado touched down on Jackson Town Road, just north of Adams Pond Road. A residence experienced the loss of its roof over an open door garage. Numerous trees

were uprooted in the same area. The tornado continued northwest, causing sporadic damage mainly to trees, but one home did suffer some minor roof damage. The tornado crossed Highway 84 and lifted near Nelson Road. The tornado was rated an EF-1 with estimated peak winds of 95 mph. Damage values are estimated.

The wider storm

Tropical Storm Cindy first developed in the central Gulf of Mexico on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 20th and made landfall between Cameron, LA and Port Arthur, TX during the early morning hours of Thursday, June 22nd. Despite the center of the storm being far removed from the north central Gulf Coast, the effects of Cindy extended several hundred miles to the east of the center and impacted the local area starting late Tuesday and persisting through the end of the week.

The primary impact across southwest and south central Alabama was from heavy rain and flooding. The highest storm total observed was in Thomasville, AL which measured 11.37 of rain ending Friday night, June 23rd. Numerous locations across south central and southwest Alabama recorded 5 to 10 inches of rain. The heavy rain resulted in numerous instances of flash flooding and minor to moderate river flooding.

Coastal flooding also impacted Mobile and Baldwin Counties, particularly in the typical low lying locations. Tidal gauges indicate the maximum inundation was around 3 feet MHHW in the north end of Mobile Bay.

Four tornadoes occurred in southern Alabama during Cindy, 3 EF-0 and 1 EF-1.

Two fatalities occurred, one due to high surf and one due to rip currents.

Began near Green Bay (31.2252, -86.3078).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 708702. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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