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EF0 tornado in Sumter County, Alabama

Tornado March 17, 2021 · Sumter County, Alabama

EF0
Rating
0.3 mi
Path length
70 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 70 yards (0.04 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 southern Sumter County and determined that it was consistent with an EF0 tornado, with maximum winds near 75 mph. The tornado began and ended near the intersection of Walker Road and Highway 17. Damage consisted of uprooted trees, broken large tree branches, and shingle damage to a residence.

The wider storm

An active southern jet stream set-up across the southern United States during the middle of March. Several short-wave troughs became negatively tilted as each one traversed across Texas and towards Alabama. This resulted in a single hail event one Monday, March 15, and significant tornado outbreak on Wednesday, March 17. Many supercells began to develop across Central Alabama by midday Wednesday and continued into the evening hours before a squall line moved through the state. Sufficient instability and strong wind shear produced conditions favorable for tornadoes to develop. The event consisted of twenty-one tornadoes in the NWS Birmingham forecast area.

Began near Siloam (32.4134, -88.2421).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Dallas CountyEF2 Marengo CountyEF2 Chilton CountyEF1 Sumter CountyEF1 Autauga CountyEF1 Chilton CountyEF1 Hale CountyEF1 Marengo CountyEF1 Tuscaloosa CountyEF1 Tuscaloosa CountyEF1 Tuscaloosa CountyEF1 Jefferson CountyEF1 Blount CountyEF0 Marengo CountyEF0 Coosa CountyEF0 Dallas CountyEF0 Marengo CountyEF0 Jefferson CountyEF0 Autauga CountyEF0 Montgomery County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 944744. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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