EF3 Tornado — Shelby, Alabama

2021-03-25 · near Boothton, Shelby, Alabama

Event narrative

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northern Shelby County and determined that it was consistent with an EF3 tornado, with maximum winds near 140 mph.

This tornado originated in Bibb County and crossed into Shelby County along Shades Creek west of River Road. The tornado traveled northeast in a wooded area along the Cahaba River, paralleling County Highway 13. As the tornado moved into Helena, it caused shingle damage to several homes in the neighborhoods near Old Cahaba Parkway and Hillsboro Parkway. A house that was under construction also collapsed. The tornado intensified again as it crossed Buck Creek near Old Town Helena, snapping numerous trees and causing roof damage. A few homes near Cunningham Drive suffered partial roof loss. The tornado weakened as it crossed New Hope Mountain near Pelham High School, but intensified to EF2 intensity along Crosscreek Trail and Wilderness Road in Pelham. Roofs were removed from four homes with collapse of an exterior wall on two of them, with many other homes suffering varying degrees of roof damage. The tornado also caused several trees to fall on homes in the Chandalar neighborhood. The tornado weakened somewhat by the time it crossed Highway 31 but still damaged the roofs of several businesses and mobile homes while uprooting trees. It began to strengthen again after crossing Interstate 65, paralleling Highway 119 through the south side of Indian Springs Village and far northern portions of Oak Mountain State Park. It continued to uproot or snap numerous trees and continued to cause roof damage to residences. Pockets of EF2 damage were found in neighborhoods south of Heardmont Park and near Oak Mountain Elementary and Intermediate Schools, with significant damage to residences from falling trees and partial roof loss. Significant timber damage with some damage to structures was also noted near the lakes at the north gate to Oak Mountain State Park. The most significant structural damage along the path occurred in the Eagle Point neighborhood just before Highway 280. Several homes suffered complete roof loss, a couple homes suffered collapse of exterior walls, and all walls collapsed for one home on Eagle Valley Drive. The majority of the other homes in the path in this neighborhood suffered varying degrees of roof damage, with numerous trees snapped. After crossing Highway 280, the tornado continued to uproot numerous trees as it moved over Oak Mountain. It caused roof damage along Highland View Drive and in the Highland Lakes neighborhood, including complete roof loss to a residence on Grove Park Way. Varying degrees of roof damage also occurred in the Greystone Farms neighborhood, with significant roof loss on several homes. The tornado crossed Dunnavant Valley Road and caused significant timber damage at Shoal Creek Country Club, and complete roof loss for another residence. The tornado then moved into a wooded area as it crossed Double Oak Mountain, continuing to uproot numerous trees. It crossed Highway 25 near Vandiver and then began to parallel Shelby County Highway 43, causing roof damage to residences and completely destroying a manufactured home on Crabapple Lane. The tornado crossed into St. Clair County near Wolf Creek Road.

Wider weather episode

A potent storm system affected Central Alabama on Thursday, March 25th. A highly-sheared environment combined with increasing instability produced numerous tornadic thunderstorms. Severe parameters were supportive of significant and long-track supercells, prompting the issuance of a rare High Risk Convective Outlook from the Storm Prediction Center for portions of Central Alabama.

A total of 10 tornado tracks were surveyed in Central Alabama. This included 4 EF3 tornadoes, 3 EF2 tornadoes, and 3 EF1 tornadoes. Damage was significant along the paths of the most intense tornadoes and, unfortunately, injuries and fatalities occurred.

Some storms were cyclic, meaning multiple tornadoes were produced by the same storm. The most impressive tornado of the event was the long-track tornado that traveled nearly 80 miles from Hale County to Shelby County. This ranked as the seventh longest single tornado track in the state of Alabama.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.2000, -87.0220)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 946867. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.