March 2, 2012
9:10 AM1.8 WSW Bethel - 1.3 SE Bethel A tornado was up to EF-1 intensity and peak wind speeds of 100 mph began a path in the Thach C ommunity, just west of the intersection of Thach Road and Oak Grove Road. The tornado moved nearly due east paralleling Thach Road for much of its life cycle. The tornado appeared to skip along its path, leaving some structures and trees intact but damaging others. The tornado finally lifted east of Highway 251. Numerous softwood and hardwood trees were snapped and uprooted along the tornado path. Several homes along the path had minor structural damage with loss of shingles, siding damage, and damage to one garage. One home had more significant damage to a section of its roof. A well-constructed barn lost most of its roof. Start: 34.9182/86.8581 End: 34.9190/-86.8124
NWS EF Scale: F1 Polygon
A tornado of EF-0 intensity with peak wind speeds of 75 mph began a path in farm fields near the intersection of Easter Farm Road and County Road 49/Morris Road. Several tree limbs were snapped in this area along with sporadic uprooting of softwood trees. The tornado then tracked east toward the Elkmont community, mainly along a parallel track just south of Morris Road. The tornado lifted just west of Highway 127.
North Alabama experienced a portion of a much larger outbreak of tornadoes and severe weather from the Ohio Valley south through the Tennessee Valley to the Gulf Coast in advance of a strong cold front. The storms came in two waves. The first began during the mid-morning hours when two tornadic supercells developed across north central Alabama. The tornadoes (one EF-3 and one EF-2) tracked rapidly east-northeast across northeast Limestone and northern Madison Counties. ||During the early afternoon, numerous thunderstorms re-erupted across north Alabama, including several supercells. Most of these storms were large hail producers, in one case up to softball sized. Three additional weak tornadoes were spawned in Limestone County. There were also reports of isolated wind damage. One last band of storms rolled through parts of north central and northeast Alabama during the mid evening hours as the cold front moved through.
Part of 12-tornado outbreak on March 2, 2012
North Alabama experienced a portion of a much larger outbreak of tornadoes and severe weather from the Ohio Valley south through the Tennessee Valley to the Gulf Coast in advance of a strong cold front. The storms came in two waves. The first began during the mid-morning hours when two tornadic supercells developed across north central Alabama. The tornadoes (one EF-3 and one EF-2) tracked rapidly east-northeast across northeast Limestone and northern Madison Counties. ||During the early afternoon, numerous thunderstorms re-erupted across north Alabama, including several supercells. Most of these storms were large hail producers, in one case up to softball sized. Three additional weak tornadoes were spawned in Limestone County. There were also reports of isolated wind damage. One last band of storms rolled through parts of north central and northeast Alabama during the mid evening hours as the cold front moved through.