2 WSW Bessemer - 3 NNE Bessemer National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in Bessemer and have determined that the damage is consistent with an EF-2 tornado. Maximum winds were estimated to be 120 mph. The tornado touched down near Academy Drive. It then traveled to the northeast, snapping and uprooting dozens of trees along its path. In addition, dozens of homes had trees down on them just to the northeast of Academy Drive. The tornado intensified as it neared the Frank House Municipal Golf Course where the clubhouse was destroyed. The tornado continued on its northeast path, snapping and uprooting hundreds of trees. Several homes and an apartment complex experienced minor roof damage near Memorial Drive. The tornado continued to the northeast as it paralleled 4th Avenue North. Hundreds of trees were uprooted before it lifted near the intersection of Dartmouth Avenue and 32nd Street South. More details may be added later. Start: 33.3592/-86.9950 End: 33.4109/-86.9344

NWS EF Scale: F2 Polygon

The tornado touched down near Interstate 65, about one-half mile south of Sardis Road. The tornado moved to the northeast and crossed Interstate 65, where it snapped and uprooted hundreds of trees along the path. As the tornado continued to the northeast, it strengthened to winds of 100 mph. The tornado moved into the city limits of Kimberly where several structures were damaged. A vacant large retail building had its roof removed. The most extensive damage occurred to the Kimberly Church of God where uplift of most of the roof structure resulted in exterior wall collapse. The tornado crossed Stouts Road where the Kimberly Fire Department sustained major damage.The tornado continued to snap dozens of trees as it moved northeast and several homes had shingle damage. As the tornado crossed Bradford Trafford Road, multiple trees were uprooted with one falling on a home causing major roof damage. The tornado continued northward into Blount County.

A large scale severe weather event began Saturday, April 26 and ended Wednesday, April 30th, producing several waves of severe weather from the Central Plains eastward through the Deep South, and across a significant portion of the eastern United States. Strong and violent tornadoes, very large hail, flash flooding, and damaging straight line winds accompanied this dynamic storm system. The most tornadoes occurred across the Deep South as the system moved into Mississippi and Alabama on Monday, April 28th. Supercell thunderstorms developed during the afternoon over eastern Mississippi and northwest Alabama in the warm sector well ahead of a cold front. The activity slowly spread east and southeast overnight, with this wave of severe storms ending early Tuesday morning. Storms redeveloped late Tuesday afternoon and moved into Central Alabama. A large area of rainfall across the northern Gulf Coast limited the amount of instability across the area, and storms remained below severe limits. The last wave of severe weather occurred early Wednesday morning across the south as an isolated storm produced large hail, as the system finally pulled east of the area.

Part of 20-tornado outbreak on April 28, 2014