3 NNW Akron - 3 NNW Duncanville A tornado touched down near Martin Slough north of Akron in a mostly inaccessible area just east of the Black Warrior River. It traveled generally northeast causing mostly sporadic timber damage. Upon entering Moundville, stronger winds were indicated by varying degrees of minor to moderate structural damage, including damage to the post office and a nearby apartment building. Many other structures were damaged from falling trees and other flying debris according to security video footage. Continuing northeast, the tornado impacted a subdivision on Waterbury Drive. This caused structural damage to a church and several nearby homes. Farther northeast, the tornado continued to cause sporadic timber damage, and lofted/flipped some campers on Old Greensboro Road. Downstream, the most significant damage occurred along Rosser Road in Moundville east of State Road 69 where a few mobile homes were destroyed from a fallen tree. A corridor of fairly significant timber damage was also observed here. Thereafter, the tornado continued northeast toward South Ridge Road before dissipating just west of US Highway 82. The tornado damage path was 22.03 miles long and was 550 yards wide at its widest point. The maximum winds were estimated around 110 mph. Start: 32.9081/-87.7584 End: 33.1254/-87.4878

NWS EF Scale: F1

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northwestern Hale County and determined that it was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum winds near 105 mph. A tornado touched down near Martin Slough Lake in a mostly inaccessible area just east of the Black Warrior River. It traveled northeast causing mostly sporadic timber damage. Upon entering the town of Moundville, stronger winds were indicated by varying degrees of minor to moderate structural damage, including damage to the post office and a nearby apartment building. Many other structures were damaged from falling trees and other flying debris based on video footage. The tornado crossed into Tuscaloosa County near the intersection of Highway 72 and Highway 69.

An active southern jet stream set-up across the southern United States during the middle of March. Several short-wave troughs became negatively tilted as each one traversed across Texas and towards Alabama. This resulted in a single hail event one Monday, March 15, and significant tornado outbreak on Wednesday, March 17. Many supercells began to develop across Central Alabama by midday Wednesday and continued into the evening hours before a squall line moved through the state. Sufficient instability and strong wind shear produced conditions favorable for tornadoes to develop. The event consisted of twenty-one tornadoes in the NWS Birmingham forecast area.

Part of 21-tornado outbreak on March 17, 2021