EF1 tornado in Lauderdale County, Alabama

An EF-1 tornado developed near the border of Joe Wheeler State Park and the Tennessee River. Almost immediately, a large swath of trees were either snapped or uprooted. Both hardwood and softwood trees were toppled, leading to a rating of high-end EF-1. Park officials estimate thousands of trees fell as a result of this tornado. The peak width was 500 yards, with evidence of multiple vortices present both to the east and west of the bay. There were multiple swaths of convergent tree damage, as well as gaps of standing trees in between these swaths. It is worth noting that several structures remained standing in the middle of these swaths and all damage to those structures was the result of falling trees.

Continuous tree damage was observed across the remainder of Joe Wheeler State Park. Sporadic damage was then noted with trees along McLean Drive, across Lover's Lane, and over to Braden Cove where an RV was toppled, several houses had minor roof damage, and a few trees were snapped. The tornado then shrank considerably and uprooted a few pine trees and then lifted just east of Tipton Road.

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.