2.3 SE Clay - 3.1 ESE Forney It has been determined that the damage was consistent with a strong tornado, which was a regeneration of the Greene-Tuscaloosa-Jefferson County tornado. As it initially touched down, the tornado caused mostly tree damage with winds of 95 mph, an EF-1 rating, as it moved east. The tornado crossed Interstate 59 near Argo and moved into St. Clair County. The tornado crossed into St. Clair County near Argo where it caused mostly tree damage consistent with an EF-1 rating as it tracked north of Margaret. The tornado began to strengthen as it neared US H ighway 411 where it caused minor roof damage to one home. The tornado crossed US H ighway 411 north of Odenville, taking a turn to the northeast, and then moved parallel to Shoal Creek. The tornado strengthened rapidly to an EF-4 with winds of 170 mph, and caused extensive damage along Shoal Creek Rd, east of CR 26. At least 6 homes were destroyed, with only small interior rooms remaining. At least one home was swept clean from the foundation. Many mobile homes were also destroyed. In addition, tree damage was extensive in this area, with every tree left mangled. At least 14 fatalities occurred along Shoal Creek Road. The path width increased to around 1 mile as the tornado approached Neely Henry Lake and the Calhoun County L ine. The tornado maintained a path along Shoal Creek Road until it crossed the lake. The tornado crossed Neely Henry Lake and into Calhoun County at Eagle Cove Road, northwest of Ohatchee. At this point, the tornado had winds of 180 mph, an EF-4 rating, and a path width of 1 mile. As the tornado crossed AL H ighway 77, numerous homes were leveled and mobile homes were demolished. Trees were left as stumps. Four fatalities occurred in this area. The tornado continued to cause extensive damage as it moved northeast crossing US H ighway 431 at Colwell Road and CR 23, where several homes and one church were destroyed. Four fatalities occurred in this area. As the tornado approached the Etowah County L ine, it weakened to an EF-2 with winds of 120 mph, but continued to cause damage. Several homes were damaged and one mobile home destroyed along CR 64. The tornado moved into Etowah County east of Cannonball Road. The tornado moved into southeastern Etowah County, east of Cannon Gap Road, where it caused mainly tree damage consistent with an EF-1 rating and winds of 100 mph. This tornado just clipped the corner of the county. The tornado crossed back into Calhoun County, just south of US H ighway 278. As the tornado crossed US H ighway 278, several homes sustained significant roof damage, consistent with an EF-1 rating and winds of 95 mph. Additional homes were damaged along the Calhoun/Cherokee County L ine. Significant tree damage was noted along this portion of the path. The tornado crossed into Cherokee County north of the intersection of US H igh way 278 and CR 19. One fatality occurred along this portion of the tornado path. The tornado moved into southwestern Cherokee County south of Estes Crossroads, along CR 19. As the tornado continued northeast, it strengthened as it moved south of Gnatville, to an EF-2 rating with winds of 120 mph. Extensive tree damage was noted along CR 6 and several mobile homes sustained significant damage off of CR 447. The tornado strengthened further to an EF-3 rating with winds of 150 mph as it crossed AL Hwy 9 south of Coloma. A single family home was destroyed on CR 31. The tornado weakened slightly as it crossed Frog Mountain, but continued to knock down trees and damage an outbuilding. The tornado re-strengthened as it crossed CR 45 north of Rock Run. Damage along CR 29 south of Forney was consistent with an EF-3 rating and winds of 160 mph. Several well built homes were completely destroyed. The tornado weakened as it moved toward the Alabama/Georgia S tateline, but continued to cause significant tree damage consistent with an EF-1 rating and winds of 105 mph. Along the path, hundreds of structures were damage and destroyed, and many thousands of trees were uprooted, snapped, and reduced to spiked stumps. The tornado then moved into Georgia at County Road 28. After moving out of Alabama, this storm was not done. It passed through 3 counties in Georgia, injuring 4 more people as it strengthened back into an EF-2 in Polk and Floyd Counties before weakening to an EF-1 in Bartow County. In all, the total tornado damage path length was 97.33 miles. Start: 33.6792/-86.5699 End: 34.0664/-85.4190

NWS EF Scale: F4 (F4)

This tornado initially touched down in eastern Jefferson County, north northeast of Trussville and moved northeast through portions of St. Clair, Calhoun, Etowah and Cherokee Counties. The tornado then moved into Georgia, across Polk, Floyd and Bartow (See Storm Data Peachtree City) Counties. The tornado crossed into St. Clair County near Argo where it caused mostly tree damage consistent with an EF1 rating as it tracked north of Margaret. The tornado began to strengthen as it neared US Hwy 411 where it caused minor roof damage to one home. The tornado crossed US Hwy 411 north of Odenville, taking a turn to the northeast, and then moved parallel to Shoal Creek. The tornado strengthened rapidly to an EF4 with winds of 170 mph, and caused extensive damage along Shoal Creek Rd, east of CR 26. At least 6 homes were destroyed, with only small interior rooms remaining. At least one home was swept clean from the foundation. Many mobile homes were also destroyed. In addition, tree damage was extensive in this area, with every tree left mangled. At least 14 fatalities occurred along Shoal Creek Rd. The path width increased to around 1 mile as the tornado approached Neely Henry Lake and the Calhoun County line. The tornado maintained a path along Shoal Creek Rd until it crossed the lake. ||This tornado was produced by a supercell thunderstorm that began in Newton County Mississippi at 13:54 pm CST, and dissipated in Macon County, North Carolina at approximately 21:18 pm CST. This supercell spawned several strong to violent tornadoes along its long path, including another violent EF4 tornado that crossed portions of Tuscaloosa and western suburbs of the Birmingham.

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.

Part of 59-tornado outbreak on April 27, 2011