EF3 tornado in Hale County, Alabama

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northern Hale County and determined that it was consistent with an EF3 tornado, with maximum winds near 150 mph.

A strong, long-track tornado traveled across Hale, Perry, Bibb, Chilton, and Shelby Counties during the afternoon of March 25, 2021. It is estimated that the tornado had a 98 minute life span, with a path length near 80 miles. It is impossible to know the exact number, but tens of thousands of trees were snapped or uprooted. The volume and extent of snapped trees pushed the rating to EF-3, around 150 mph. Along the tornados path, hundreds of residences were damaged or destroyed, either directly by wind or due to fallen trees.

The tornado began along Highway 17 just south of the town of Sawyerville. The tornado rapidly gained strength and widened as it neared and crossed Highway 14. Across Hale County, a large swath of hardwood and softwood trees were uprooted. Some debarking of trees was observed just south of Highway 14, probably from high velocity debris throwing. Five large transmission towers were downed on the north side of Highway 14. These towers are rated for 120+ mph winds according to representatives from Alabama Power. It is unknown whether this was due to a domino effect or direct blowdown of each tower. Either way, a powerful tornado occurred. Residential damage included wall collapse, roofing torn off, shifting off of foundation, or total structural loss. There were six minor injuries in Hale County.

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.