Preliminary Path Information on Tuscaloosa/Birmingham Tornado

From the National Weather Service Birmingham…

The Tuscaloosa/Birmingham Tornado is at least an EF4…could be rated an EF5 based on information the survey team sees.

It touched down near Union in northern Greene County and roared northeast for 80.1 miles. It was 1.5 miles wide at its widest point, when it crossed I-65 north of Birmingham.

At least 65 people were killed and 1,000 injured, making it Alabama’s deadliest tornado in history.

It lifted just before it would have crossed Highway 79 and gone into the Jeff State area of Center Point. It likely would have struck the campus directly. Thankfully, it did not or an already terrible day would have been even worse.

…PRELIMINARY TUSCALOOSA/BIRMINGHAM TORNADO TRACK…

PRELIMINARY DATA…
EVENT DATE: APRIL 27, 2011
EVENT TYPE: AT LEAST EF-4
ESTIMATED PEAK WINDS (MPH): AT LEAST 165
INJURIES/FATALITIES: AT LEAST 65 FATALITIES. OVER 1000 INJURIES.
EVENT START LOCATION AND TIME: 33.0297/-87.935 AT 443 PM
EVENT END LOCATION AND TIME: 33.6311/-86.7436 AT 614 PM
DAMAGE PATH LENGTH (IN MILES): APPROXIMATELY 80.3 MILES
DAMAGE WIDTH: 1.5 MILES CROSSING I-65

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS HAVE BEGUN SURVEYING THE
MASSIVE DAMAGE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS LONG TRACK TORNADO…BY GROUND
AND AIR. THE START POINT IS BASED ON AERIAL SURVEY…WHILE THE END
LOCATION WAS DETERMINED BY A GROUND CREW. THUS FAR…DETAILED DAMAGE
INSPECTION HAS REVEALED A MAXIMUM OF EF-4 DAMAGE IN THE PLEASANT
GROVE. CASUALTY INFORMATION IS BASED ON THE LATEST OFFICIAL RELEASES
FROM THE ALABAMA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY. THIS TORNADO WAS
PRODUCED BY A SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORM THAT BEGAN IN NEWTON COUNTY
MISSISSIPPI AT 254 PM CDT…FINALLY DISSIPATING IN MACON COUNTY
NORTH CAROLINA AT APPROXIMATELY 1018 PM CDT. SO…THIS SUPERCELL
EXISTED FOR ABOUT 7 HOURS AND 24 MINUTES…TRAVELING APPROXIMATELY
380 MILES PRODUCING SEVERAL STRONG TO VIOLENT TORNADOES ALONG THE
WAY. ADDITIONAL EVALUATION OF THE DAMAGE IN TUSCALOOSA AND JEFFERSON
COUNTY WILL CONTINUE TODAY TO DETERMINE IF THE RATING NEEDS TO BE
INCREASED. RESULTS WILL BE UPDATED WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE.

Category: Severe Weather