Regional Weather Roundup If a tornado warning is issued, that means a rotating storm has been detected or a tornado spotted on the ground, and that action should be taken immediately. Along the way, it stripped a school bus down to its chassis. The Weather Service had already received reports of 24 twisters, 59 instances of damaging winds, and 49 reports of large hail. The tornado maintained its strength as it continued through the neighborhood of Alberta City, leveling and sweeping away numerous block-foundation homes, and completely flattening two more apartment buildings and a shopping center along University Boulevard. The zone most threatened by dangerous storms includes Birmingham and Huntsville, Ala., and Tupelo, Miss. They need to have a plan in place NOW which includes having multiple ways to get warning information and [knowing] where to take shelter should a tornado warning be issued for their location., The sentiment was echoed by other Weather Service offices and broadcast meteorologists, the Weather Service in Birmingham writing the synoptic pattern checks nearly all the boxes for a Deep South/Tennessee Valley outbreak., Their neighboring office in Huntsville described the air mass as very unstable and downright volatile, while the Storm Prediction Center called the environment for violent, tornadic storms as uncommon, upper echelon.. 4:30 a.m.- Tornadoes begin crossing over from Mississippi and firing along a line stretching from Pickens County to Fayette County, causing damage to homes, power lines and felling trees. Initially over West and Southwest Alabama Monday, and statewide Monday night and Tuesday." The National Weather Service in Birmingham issues the following guidelines for our coverage area. Daily Rainfall Plots The Old Kingston-Lake Martin tornado was one of 14 tornadoes that hit Alabama on Jan. 12. The tornado then moved across the rest of Tallapoosa County causing EF-0 to EF-1 tree damage, including in the Sessions area. @spann more of Eagle Point pic.twitter.com/PGOJPvbcO7, @spann My dad's house in Eagle Point. Local Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Data, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. [10] The nearby Cedar Crest subdivision was devastated as numerous block-foundation homes were leveled. Another tornado on Feb. 2, a deadly EF-2, had a 25.87-mile path through Greene and Hale counties. WATCH: Drone footage shows Alabama tornado devastation in Selma. During the mid-afternoon Thursday, a tornadic thunderstorm carved a 100-plus mile path across north central Alabama into northwest Georgia, spawning multiple twisters while passing south of Tuscaloosa and then south and east of Birmingham. 4:01 p.m. - An EF-4 tornado killed 11 people along a 28-mile path in Jackson and DeKalb counties, leveling Flat Rock and Shiloh before crossing over into Georgia. Tornadoes, large to very large hail, and damaging winds to hurricane force also are possible over a broad area from the central Gulf Coast to the Ohio Valley and southern Appalachians, the Weather Services Storm Prediction Center warned. The tornado hit several homes along Sandy Ridge Road, where some of the deaths occurred. He checked on his family and is still going forward to help inform viewers. See all of AL.coms April 27, 2011 anniversary coverage here. The tornado crossed through the Pine Flat community, damaging more homes, and a manufactured home was rolled and destroyed. We dug out, Dobbs said. Severe weather was also occurring outside Alabama with severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings in effect in northwest Georgia, and a line of severe thunderstorms was sweeping east through western Tennessee. The tornado weakened slightly as it moved across County Road 57 but still damaged several homes. But weather forecasters were already warning of worse to come that afternoon. Dramatic video has emerged of the twister as it passed southeast of Birmingham near Eagle Point about 90 minutes ago: This terrifying video was taken at Griffin Park at Eagle Point near Lee Branch and US-280. Forecast Discussion Local Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Data Alabama Gov. Numerous homes, apartment buildings, and a large church sustained significant damage as the tornado entered Birmingham's city limits and impacted the neighborhood of Pratt City. I dont know how.. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. This was the third tornado to strike the city of Tuscaloosa in the past decade, and the second in two weeks. In [your] safe places, have helmets for everybody, a portable air horn first responders can hear that a mile a way hard sole shoes [for] walking over tornado debris, said Spann in a morning video posted to his Facebook page. Our Office, Education Tornado Safety Rules, Awareness Weeks Sorry, the location you searched for was not found. Coverage of the April 27, 2011 Tuscaloosa, Alabama tornado. Police were using the Sawmeal Restaurant as a checkpoint for southbound travelers, turning back the majority who did not live in the area. Now, the full fury of the outbreak was showing its muscle throughout the state. The same tornadic thunderstorm which caused damage southeast of Birmingham had charged into northeast Alabama, near the border with Georgia where a tornado warning is in effect until 4 p.m. Multiple locations were found. The tornado devastated the Cedar Crest neighborhood just north of 15th St, leveling many cinder block homes and causing at least 3 fatalities. Social media footage provides ground truth: Awful, awful, awful damage in Centreville, AL. National Weather Service National Weather Service meteorologists have surveyed the massive damage associated with this long track violent tornado, by ground and air. Please select one of the following: After the tornado moved through the McDonald Chapel area, it moved into the area of Smithfield Estates, with significant home damage along Cherry Avenue between Daniel Payne Drive and Veterans Memorial Drive. Entire neighborhoods are leveled. Then he saw the storm wall headed straight for him. 5:30 p.m. - An EF-3 tornado began a 71-mile path through Greene, Hale and Bibb counties, killing seven and injures more than 50. [2] Two days before the event, on April 25, the SPC issued a moderate risk of severe weather encompassing portions of central and eastern Kentucky, middle and eastern Tennessee, northeast Mississippi, central and northern Alabama, and northwest Georgia. xmlns:xsl='http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform'">. By the time the tornado reachedInterstate 65, it was evident that the storm was losing its energy. At least 30 people were injured as the tornado carved a 10-mile (16-kilometer) path through Birmingham's northern suburbs, an area severely damaged by a much larger tornado a decade ago. 8:12 p.m. - An EF-4 tornado killed nine along a 44-mile path through Elmore, Tallapoosa and Chambers counties in the Lake Martin area. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. (2011, May 3). NASA Earth Observatory image created by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using EO-1 ALI data provided courtesy of the NASA EO-1 team. Tornado Warnings April 27, 2011. Its made up of cold air and counterclockwise spin at high altitudes nestled within a dip in the jet stream. The large tornado that passed south of Tuscaloosa is now roaring east into the zone about 40 miles south of Birmingham where a tornado emergency is in effect until 6 p.m. Satellite view of the long-track, tornadic supercell marching across Central Alabama. #alwx #tornado @spann pic.twitter.com/qTVTJ1kHBe, 3:10 p.m.: Long-track tornado in Alabama nears border with Georgia. Summer Safety Campaign The storms had cut power to over 35,000 customers in Alabama. The trail of damage stretched 80.3 miles (129.2 kilometers) long and as much as 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) wide. Land Additionally, wind rowing of debris was evident throughout the Pleasant Grove community which is characteristic of a storm of thismagnitude. It spawned a few tornadoes in Texas on Wednesday and is set to unleash vicious weather across the South. The Bethel Baptist Church also sustained significant damage to its roof, though the main structure of the building was still intact. Tornado Track Across Indiana and Kentucky, NASA Goddard Space Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). Special thanks to Sergeant Rocco Renno of the Hoover Police Department and Officer Chad Allinder of the Jefferson County Sherrif's Department for their assistance withground damage surveys in the Birmingham area. This is a terrifying image of debris on radar (blue dot on right), following the passage of a violent tornado right through Centreville, AL of the EF4-5 type #alwx pic.twitter.com/Aoeq3uZkpa. The weather service noted that the damage here, rated high-end EF-2, could be partly due to the interaction of the tornado with the lake surface, as well as the exposed nature of these homes.. The supercell started in Newton County, Mississippi, at 2:54 p.m. Central Daylight Time (CDT), and finally ended in Macon County, North Carolina, at 10:18 p.m. CDT. Know the location of the nearest shelter, or business that is open 24/7, wrote James Spann, a veteran meteorologist at ABC 33/40 in Birmingham known for walking Alabamians through scores of historic outbreaks. The tornado continues to loft massive amounts of debris into the air, which is being detected by radar. Aviation Weather, Climate and Past Weather The damage in the Fultondale area includedfoldedhighway light poles along the interstate, and roof damage to the Days Inn on U.S. Highway31. Alabama was hit the worst, with the first reported tornado hitting Marion and others hitting Tuscaloosa, Chilton County, and other locales. The weather service has a list of the longest tracks for tornadoes in Alabama. 11:20 a.m. - An EF-1 tornado touched down in Decatur Industrial Park, damaging roofs and leaving damage. By the time that tornado lifted just north of downtown Birmingham, it had covered 80.3 miles, reached up to about 1.5 miles wide, killed 64 people, injured over 1500, and caused . As the tornado approached Interstate 359, several buildings were destroyed including the Tuscaloosa County Emergency Operations Center. [10][13][14][15] The tornado exited the Tuscaloosa area and weakened to low-end EF3 status while contracting back to .5 miles (0.80km) wide. At least three manufactured homes were obliterated, the weather service said, with their frames thrown up to 100 yards along County Road 43. The frame of a manufactured home was thrown 250 yards and into a field. Many homes in this area were constructed by the method of pier and beam foundation, which led tosome of the major destruction, as this construction will not withstand winds of this magnitude. The start point is based on aerial survey, while the end location was determined by a ground crew. 6:23 p.m. - The earlier supercell that devastated Tuscaloosa and Jefferson counties, ignited back into an EF-4 tornado. Although the most widespread severe storms will threaten central and northeast Mississippi, much of Middle Tennessee and northern and western Alabama, the threat of at least a few tornadoes extends as far north as Louisville or Indianapolis. The Autauga tornado was a dreaded long-track tornado, with a path that was 82 miles long. Many stations, including WIAT, the WBMA trimulcast, CBS affiliate WTVY (channel 4) in Dothan and NBC affiliate WSFA (channel 12) in Montgomery, showed television cameras capturing the event as the tornado which appeared wider than its estimated width during that section of the path as the condensation funnel was partially obscured by a debris cloud and a dense rain shaft moved east-northeast across the western and northern suburbs of Birmingham at high-end EF4 strength around 6:00p.m. CDT (23:00 UTC). Know how to get there quickly.. Several apartment complexes were entirely destroyed in this area, and a few two-story apartment buildings were completely reduced to rubble. 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