EF1 tornado in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in eastern Tuscaloosa County and determined that it was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum winds near 100 mph. The tornado touched down along Lock 17 Road near Warrior Met Coal. The tornado tracked north-northeasterly and produced significant timber damage. Damage was also sustained to a metal warehouse on Davis Road where siding and roofing material was lofted east to west into the tree line. Downstream, a long corridor of significant timber damage was observed along with minor damage to a communications tower near the intersection of Hannah Creek Road and Searles Road. The tornado continued north-northeast across a mostly inaccessible wooded area where the last point of observable damage occurred at the end of Alabama Junction.

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.