EF0 Tornado — Coosa, Alabama

2021-03-17 · near Weogufka, Coosa, Alabama

Event narrative

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northwest Coosa County and determined that it was consistent with an EF0 tornado, with maximum winds near 65 mph. The tornado began and ended around County Road 56. Damage was limited to an uprooted pine tree, and several trees had broken branches. A brief TDS was also noted on the BMX radar.

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 → (33.0063, -86.3522)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 944904. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.