EF2 tornado in Barbour County, Alabama

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in Barbour County and determined that it was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum sustained winds near 115 mph.

A tornado touched down near Mary C Smith Road, just north of County Road 79. The initial damage was limited to trees being snapped and uprooted. The tornado tracked eastward and crossed County Road 79 and Reverend Crawford Road. Once again, there were numerous trees snapped and uprooted in these areas. The most significant damage occurred just east of Reverend Crawford Road, where all trees in a large area were completely mowed down. Additionally, a large wooden double power pole was also knocked down. At this point, the tornado turned slightly to the right, eventually lifting just east of Lee Clayton Road. Hundreds of additional trees were snapped and uprooted.

On the morning of Sunday March 3rd, 2019, an upper-level disturbance moved eastward from the Southern Plains into the southern Gulf Coast States. As favorable upper-level support and deep-layer forcing approached the lower Mississippi River Valley, a surface low pressure developed and moved northeastward into Central Alabama by late morning. Ahead of this surface low, a warm front initially along the Florida Panhandle moved northward allowing for the transport of warm, moist unstable air into southern and southeastern Central Alabama. This frontal boundary eventually became more stationary and stalled out north of the I-85 corridor as the strengthening surface low moved eastward. During this time, a large area of elevated thunderstorms affected portions northern Central Alabama while supercell thunderstorms initiated across the favorable warm sector. As these supercells intensified during the afternoon, parameters became favorable for tornadic thunderstorms in an area along and south of the I-85 corridor.