EF1 Tornado — Chilton, Alabama

2021-03-17 · near Falakto, Chilton, Alabama

Event narrative

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in eastern Chilton County and determined that it was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum winds near 95 mph. A tornado touched down near County Road 484 and tracked north-northeast producing mainly tree damage along County Roads 491 and 97. Hardwood trees were snapped and uprooted along County Roads 486 and 491. Some minor structural damage was also noted with damage to farm buildings and an outbuilding. The tornado widened to about 500 yards in this area. As the tornado continued northeast towards County Road 28, it began to weaken with more minor tree damage noted. The tornado dissipated quickly just north of County Road 28.

Wider weather episode

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.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.8165, -86.5539)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 944813. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.