EF2 Tornado — Choctaw, Alabama

2021-03-17 · near Aquilla, Choctaw, Alabama

Event narrative

The tornado started on Sunlight Church Road in Wayne County, MS just west of the Choctaw County line. The tornado moved into extreme southwest Choctaw County and produced high end EF-1 intensity damage on CR 2 where several chicken houses were heavily damaged and numerous softwood and hardwood trees were downed or snapped. The tornado lost intensity as it headed northeast toward Silas, but still produced pockets of EF-1 damage especially in the Silas area, near Silas Branch. The tornado continued northeast and produced spotty, mainly light tree damage north of Highway 84 and toward Womack Hill. However, the tornado quickly strengthened and widened as it approached the Tombigbee River and crossed into northwest Clarke County. The tornado produced significant and extensive damage to large swaths of trees from the Trotter Road area right along the river, northeast to Campbell's landing road and to near the Marengo County line. Based on aerial footage of the extensive tree damage, the tornado was given an EF-2 intensity rating. A few river camp houses suffered roof damage. An older home on Campbell's Landing Road was heavily damaged and two people in the home suffered minor injuries. Adjacent modular homes suffered minor damage. It is possible that the path width of the tornado was greater than 400 yards, but additional analysis is needed.

Wider weather episode

A strong cold front moved through the southeast states, triggering a severe weather outbreak that produced several tornadoes along with numerous reports of large hail and damaging winds.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.6996, -88.4645)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 947196. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.