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EF1 tornado in Colbert County, Alabama

Tornado December 16, 2019 · Colbert County, Alabama

EF1

Rating

0.7 mi

Path length

75 yd

Path width

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

A brief tornado touched down along Patrick Lane just west of Red Rock Road, crossed northeast and lifted back up

in a grove of trees just behind a house. The worst damage was in this grove of trees, where some tree trunks were snapped.

The wider storm

During the late afternoon and evening hours, a broken line of severe thunderstorms pushed rapidly east across north Alabama. The thunderstorms produced at least (6) tornadoes, numerous reports of wind damage and a couple reports of large hail in north Alabama.

Began near Red Rock (34.7043, -87.8715).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Lawrence County 2 dead EF2 Colbert County EF1 Lauderdale County EF1 Madison County EF0 Madison County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 865234. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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