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December 14, 2022 · Washington, Choctaw County · 2022
EF2

December 14, 2022

5:40 PM
Washington, Choctaw County, Alabama · Near Chatom (ZIP 36518)
Fatalities
0
Injuries
0
Path Length
3.4 mi
Max Width
140 yd
DateDecember 14, 2022
Time5:40 PM
CountyWashingtonChoctaw
CityChatom
Property Loss$0
Crop Loss$0
SourceNCEI 1072169
NWS Birmingham

2 W Silver Cross - 1 SE Bladon Springs An EF2 tornado has been confirmed in far northern Washington into southeastern Choctaw Counties. The tornado touched down as an EF0 along Dry Creek Road where a few trees were uprooted. The next available road was along County Road 31 where significant tree damage occurred to the north of Frankville. Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted in a 120 yard swath. Significant snapping and deforestation seemed evident looking further southwest along the track; however, this area was inaccessible at the time and required satellite data to confirm the degree of damage. After review of high resolution satellite imagery, several changes have been made to this tornado. The first major change was to the intensity of the tornado. Complete deforestation of trees to the southwest of County Road 31 was noted on satellite imagery, indicating numerous if not all trees in the path were uprooted/snapped low at their base. Based on this, the intensity is bumped to 130mph making this a high-end EF2. The next major change is to end the tornado just northeast of County Road 31. Satellite imagery indicates the tornado occluded to the left rather abruptly, and reached its widest point of 140 yards as it once again produced EF2 damage with widespread deforestation during the occlusion process. The damage path ended abruptly once the tornado was moving due north on satellite imagery. It's possible it continued to travel to the north for a bit while weakening, however, based on the storm survey on Blue Dirt Road it never reached the road. This satellite imagery explains the discontinuity that was noted in the original storm survey downstream by Blue Dirt Road where a new tornado began. Start: 31.6801/-88.2137 End: 31.7192/-88.1820

NWS EF Scale: F2

Event Narrative

An EF2 tornado has been confirmed in far northern Washington into southeastern Choctaw Counties. The tornado touched down as an EF0 along Dry Creek Road where a few trees were uprooted. The next available road was along County Road 31 where significant tree damage occurred to the north of Frankville. Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted in a 120 yard swath. Significant snapping and deforestation seemed evident looking further southwest along the track; however, this area was inaccessible at the time and required satellite data to confirm the degree of damage.||After review of high resolution satellite imagery, several changes have been made to this tornado. The first major change was to the intensity of the tornado. Complete deforestation of trees to the southwest of County Road 31 was noted on satellite imagery, indicating numerous if not all trees in the path were uprooted/snapped low at their base. Based on this, the intensity is bumped to 130mph making this a high-end EF2. The next major change is to end the tornado just northeast of County Road 31. Satellite imagery indicates the tornado occluded to the left rather abruptly, and reached its widest point of 140 yards as it once again produced EF2 damage with widespread deforestation during the occlusion process. The damage path ended abruptly once the tornado was moving due north on satellite imagery. It's possible it continued to travel to the north for a bit while weakening, however, based on the storm survey on Blue Dirt Road it never reached the road. This satellite imagery explains the discontinuity that was noted in the original storm survey downstream by Blue Dirt Road where a new tornado began.

Episode Narrative

A very warm and moist airmass developed ahead of a strong cold front. Thunderstorms developed ahead of the front and produced damaging winds along with a 2-EF2 tornadoes in Choctaw County Alabama along with wind damage in Baldwin County.

Outbreak Context

Part of 3-tornado outbreak on December 14, 2022

Shared Episode Narrative

A very warm and moist airmass developed ahead of a strong cold front. Thunderstorms developed ahead of the front and produced damaging winds along with a 2-EF2 tornadoes in Choctaw County Alabama along with wind damage in Baldwin County.

Source Data
NCEI Event ID: 1072169

See Also

3.4 mi140 yd wide