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April 27, 2011 · Pickens, Tuscaloosa, Fayette County · 2011
EF4

April 27, 2011

2:40 PM
Pickens, Tuscaloosa, Fayette County, Alabama · Near Eutaw
Fatalities
13
Injuries
54
Path Length
127.8 mi
Max Width
1,408 yd
DateApril 27, 2011
Time2:40 PM
CountyPickensTuscaloosaFayette
CityEutaw
Property Loss$170344000.00M
Crop Loss$0
SourceNCEI 307109
NWS Birmingham

4.2 NW Geiger - 4.9 SE Aliceville Airport A tornado touched down in Kemper County Mississippi, near Scooba, and tracked northeast into Sumter County, Alabama at a point just north of Henley Road, northwest of Geiger. The tornado continued as an EF2 rating as it entered Alabama, with winds of 130 mph. It knocked down trees along Mt Tabor Road and AL Hwy 17. The tornado caused extensive tree damage along CR 34, near Panola, where it knocked down an entire section of pine forest. The average path width in Sumter County is 0.5 mile (880yds). The tornado continued northeast across north Sumter County and moved into southern Pickens County just west of CR 85. As the tornado entered southern Pickens County just west of CR 85, it strengthened to an EF3 rating with winds of 140 mp h , the path width decreased to 0.4 mile (704 yds). As the tornado crossed CR 85, a large cinder block building sustained significant loss of roofing and partial wall collapse. The tornado continued to cause tree damage along its path as it moved northeast and crossed the Tombigbee River at Vienna. The tornado weakened and lifted at AL H ighway 14, just north of the Sipsey River. The total tornado damage path length was 23.74 miles. The tornado was 1056 yards wide in Sumter County and was rated EF-2 in Kemper and Sumter and EF-3 in Pickens. Start: 32.9100/-88.3500 End: 32.0604/-88.1299

NWS EF Scale: F3 (F3)

Event Narrative

The first segment of this long track tornado initially touched down 5 miles northeast of Pickensville near Basinger Rd, north of AL Hwy 86. This tornado continued through portions of Tuscaloosa, Fayette, Walker, Cullman (See Storm Data for Huntsville), and Blount Counties, before it dissipated in Marshall (See Storm Data for Huntsville) County. While the average path width of this tornado in Pickens County was around 0.4 mile (704 yds), the maximum path width was 0.6 mile (1056 yds). The tornado crossed AL Hwy 17 and US Hwy 82, across the southern and western extents of the city of Reform. The storm strengthened to an EF1 rating with winds of 110 mph to the northeast of Reform. Along CR 49, several chicken houses were destroyed and grain feed bins were tossed up to 100 yards. As the tornado crossed AL Hwy 159, north of CR 49, several homes sustained roof damage and several outbuildings were destroyed. Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted along the path. The tornado moved northeast entering Tuscaloosa County south of Mid Walters Rd.

Episode Narrative

A powerful storm system crossed the Southeast United States on Wednesday, April 27, 2011, resulting in a large and deadly tornado outbreak. This epic event broke the record for number of tornadoes in a day for the state of Alabama, becoming the most significant tornado outbreak in the state���s history. ||Central Alabama had two rounds of severe weather that day. During the early morning hours, a Quasi-Linear Convective System quickly moved across the northern half of the National Weather Service, Birmingham county warning area. Straight line winds of 90 mph (78kts) or greater and 11 tornadoes lead to widespread damage and power outages. During the afternoon, long-lived supercell thunderstorms produced long-track, strong and violent tornadoes. Destruction and loss of life across many towns and communities was devastating. ||The hardest hit areas included Shottsville and Hackleburg, both in Marion County, where winds of 160 mph and 210 mph respectively, caused unimagineable damage. Cordova, in Walker County, was hit twice; by a tornado along the Quasi-Linear Convective System during the early morning hours and again in the afternoon by a long-track EF4 tornado. A long track tornado moved across the city of Tuscaloosa and the western suburbs of Birmingham, resulting in the complete destruction of whole neighborhoods and numerous injuries and fatalities in those heavily populated areas. The same parent supercell produced another violent tornado in east Central Alabama as it tracked across St. Clair and Calhoun Counties, resulting in additional fatalities and incredible damage to a number of neighborhoods. Another violent EF4 tornado tracked across portions of Elmore and Tallapoosa Counties, including Lake Martin, destroying numerous homes and a large section of a mobile home park. ||Most of the violent tornadoes from this day were captured on video by a number of people, including storm spotters and chasers, as well as numerous television news crews and remotely controlled web-enabled video cameras. This allowed unprecedented coverage and viewing of this historic event in real time from people worldwide.

Outbreak Context

Part of 59-tornado outbreak on April 27, 2011

EF1Unknown CountyView →EF1Lauderdale CountyView →EF2Pickens CountyView →EF3Pickens, Tuscaloosa CountyView →EF1Fayette CountyView →EF3Tuscaloosa, Jefferson CountyView →EF3Walker County9 fatalView →EF2Cullman County1 fatalView →EF1Shelby, Jefferson CountyView →EF2Jefferson, Blount County1 fatalView →EF2Jefferson County1 fatalView →EF1Blount, Marshall CountyView →EF2St. Clair County13 fatalView →EF1Cullman, Marshall CountyView →EF1Marshall CountyView →EF2Marshall, DeKalb CountyView →EF1Marshall CountyView →EF1Marshall CountyView →EF1Marshall CountyView →EF1Marshall CountyView →EF1Marshall CountyView →EF0Marshall CountyView →EF1Marshall CountyView →EF1Marshall CountyView →EF1Marshall CountyView →EF1Jackson, DeKalb County1 fatalView →EF2DeKalb, Jackson County25 fatalView →EF1DeKalb County25 fatalView →EF0Limestone CountyView →EF1Morgan, Limestone CountyView →EF0Limestone CountyView →EF1Limestone CountyView →EF1Limestone, Madison CountyView →EF1Madison CountyView →EF1Madison CountyView →EF0Madison CountyView →EF4Cullman, Morgan, Marshall County6 fatalView →EF5Franklin, Lawrence, Morgan County72 fatalView →EF4DeKalb County14 fatalView →EF1Madison CountyView →EF4Greene, Tuscaloosa, Jefferson County64 fatalView →EF1Limestone, Madison CountyView →EF4Jackson County1 fatalView →EF3Marion, Winston CountyView →EF3Greene, Hale, Bibb County7 fatalView →EF3Fayette CountyView →EF5DeKalb County25 fatalView →EF4St. Clair, Calhoun, Etowah County22 fatalView →EF1Hale, Bibb CountyView →EF0Cullman CountyView →EF1Bibb, Shelby CountyView →EF4Elmore, Tallapoosa, Chambers County7 fatalView →EF1Shelby, Talladega CountyView →EF1Perry CountyView →EF2DeKalb County25 fatalView →EF1Chambers CountyView →EF1Chambers CountyView →EF0Chilton CountyView →
Shared Episode Narrative

A powerful storm system crossed the Southeast United States on Wednesday, April 27, 2011, resulting in a large and deadly tornado outbreak. This epic event broke the record for number of tornadoes in a day for the state of Alabama, becoming the most significant tornado outbreak in the state���s history. ||Central Alabama had two rounds of severe weather that day. During the early morning hours, a Quasi-Linear Convective System quickly moved across the northern half of the National Weather Service, Birmingham county warning area. Straight line winds of 90 mph (78kts) or greater and 11 tornadoes lead to widespread damage and power outages. During the afternoon, long-lived supercell thunderstorms produced long-track, strong and violent tornadoes. Destruction and loss of life across many towns and communities was devastating. ||The hardest hit areas included Shottsville and Hackleburg, both in Marion County, where winds of 160 mph and 210 mph respectively, caused unimagineable damage. Cordova, in Walker County, was hit twice; by a tornado along the Quasi-Linear Convective System during the early morning hours and again in the afternoon by a long-track EF4 tornado. A long track tornado moved across the city of Tuscaloosa and the western suburbs of Birmingham, resulting in the complete destruction of whole neighborhoods and numerous injuries and fatalities in those heavily populated areas. The same parent supercell produced another violent tornado in east Central Alabama as it tracked across St. Clair and Calhoun Counties, resulting in additional fatalities and incredible damage to a number of neighborhoods. Another violent EF4 tornado tracked across portions of Elmore and Tallapoosa Counties, including Lake Martin, destroying numerous homes and a large section of a mobile home park. ||Most of the violent tornadoes from this day were captured on video by a number of people, including storm spotters and chasers, as well as numerous television news crews and remotely controlled web-enabled video cameras. This allowed unprecedented coverage and viewing of this historic event in real time from people worldwide.

Source Data
NCEI Event ID: 307109
SWDI Tornado ID: 2011-04-27T20:42:43Z_KGWX_W9
SWDI Radar Site: KGWX
SWDI Signature: TVS

See Also

127.8 mi1408 yd wide