EF2 tornado in Clay County, Alabama

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in southeast Clay County and determined that it was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum winds near 125 mph.

This tornado originated in Tallapoosa County and crossed into Clay County southwest of Sikesville. As the tornado crossed Hodge Creek Road, it produced extensive timber damage, specifically the snapping and uprooting of large swaths of trees. Some minor structural damage was also noted in this area. The tornado traveled northeast producing extensive tree damage in the Sikesville community where numerous homes here received minor to moderate roof damage. One home sustained major damage with all but one wall collapsed. The tornado nearly paralleled County Line Road as it moved into southwest Randolph 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.