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EF0 tornado in Hale County, Alabama

Tornado April 14, 2019 · Hale County, Alabama

EF0
Rating
8.7 mi
Path length
220 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 220 yards (0.12 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF0 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF0 is light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 65–85 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 Hale County and determined that it was consistent with an EF0 tornado, with maximum sustained winds near 80 mph. The tornado touched down on the south side of E Z Street just south of Highway 80 and tracked northeast where it knocked over a trailer at Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church. The tornado continued northeast across Gallion Road where it caused timber damage and ripped most of the metal roofing and sides off a large metal shed. Timber damage continued as it moved northeast, impacting portions of Davis and Hall Roads. A home just west of Hall Road suffered minor damage to shingles and overhangs while a home on the north end of Hall Road was impacted by an uprooted tree that resulted in partial roof damage. A large shed between Hall Road and Highway 69 lost nearly all of its metal roof. North of the damaged shed, a home suffered minor siding damage. The tornado then tracked northeast, causing timber damage as it crossed Highway 69 and destroying a shed along with damaging another larger shed. Notable timber damage was observed north and northeast of this point as the tornado moved east of Highway 69 into uninhabited and inaccessible areas. Tornado damage was evident from Prairie Oaks Ranch located on Pecan Road. The tornado caused damage to several trees on the property and some fencing along Cat Bottom Road. The tornado moved northeast across open fields with timber damage along a tree line found along County Road 10. The tornado tracked northeast across County Road 9 where it ripped some metal tin off of a barn and caused additional tree damage. The tornado moved across open fields until it impacted portions of a tree line along a farm road just west of Highway 9. Additional timber damage was found further north along County Road 9 as the tornado turned more northeast. The tornado caused sporadic tree damage before lifting just south of County Road 16.

The wider storm

A very potent storm system moved out of the Southern Plains States and into the Central Gulf Coast Region Saturday and into Sunday morning. This system produced widespread severe weather from Texas to Alabama, including numerous tornadoes. A line of severe storms moved into West Alabama shortly before midnight Saturday night and progressed eastward across all of Central Alabama. The line of storms produced pockets of damaging straight line winds, localized flooding, and several tornadoes.

Began near Gallion (32.5051, -87.7038).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 820828. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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