EF1 tornado in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in southwest Tuscaloosa County and determined that it was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum winds near 110 mph. This tornado crossed from Hale County into Tuscaloosa County near the intersection of Highway 69 and Highway 72 in the city of Moundville. The tornado impacted a subdivision on Waterbury Drive and caused structural damage to a church and several homes. Farther northeast, the tornado produced sporadic timber damage, and lofted/flipped some campers on Old Greensboro Road. The most significant damage occurred along South Rosser Road where a few mobile homes were destroyed from a fallen tree. A corridor of fairly significant timber damage was also observed along South Rosser Road. The tornado continued northeast toward South Ridge Road before dissipating just west of Highway 82.

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.