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EF1 tornado in Blount County, Alabama

Tornado March 17, 2021 · Blount County, Alabama

EF1
Rating
12.9 mi
Path length
300 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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 Blount County and determined that it was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum winds near 100 mph. The tornado began near Tim King Road along Hunt Mountain. It moved northeast and crossed Highway 231, with damage consisting mainly of snapped and uprooted trees. The tornado then crossed Wilson Chapel Road where it snapped a couple of trees and rolled a camper at a residence before dissipating.

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 Tidwell (33.9227, -86.5587).

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 CountyEF0 Sumter CountyEF0 Marengo CountyEF0 Coosa CountyEF0 Dallas CountyEF0 Marengo CountyEF0 Jefferson CountyEF0 Autauga CountyEF0 Montgomery County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 945121. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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