EF2 tornado in Cullman County, Alabama

Tornado April 12, 2020 · Cullman County, Alabama

EF2

Rating

2.9 mi

Whole path

350 yd

Path width

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Cullman County → Cullman County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 350 yards (0.20 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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 just east of County Road 640 near the Duck River and move to the northeast. Along its path, it uprooted numerous trees and removed the metal roofing on a chicken house as it move across County Road 645. The tornado intensified as it crossed County Road 703 and removed the roof of a home.

Another home along County Road 781 had its roof removed. The tornado continued briefly to the northeast, uprooting more trees and removing the metal roofing of a barn. The tornado lifted just east of County Road 771 near Buzzard Branch.

The wider storm

Heavy rainfall occurred across the entire NWS Huntsville County Warning area, as well as damage from thunderstorm winds and a few tornadoes.

While heavy rainfall reports were spread out across the CWFA, the most significant flash flooding occurred in Fort Payne and surrounding areas in Northeast Alabama.

Intense rainfall of 6-6.5 inches fell in DeKalb County along Big Wills Creek.

A new Flood of Record crest of 17.94 feet occurred, surpassing the old Flood of Record (14.36) by a whopping 3.5 feet! More than 50 roads were shut down, with extensive flooding that occurred on Hwy 35 leading up to the Hwy 35/I459 interchange.

Began near Walter (34.1239, -86.7087).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Marshall County EF1 Cullman County EF1 Marshall County EF1 Cullman County EF1 Dekalb County EF0 Dekalb County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 886298. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.