Tornado count climbs from weekend round of storms
The Alabama tornado count from the latest round of severe weather has gone up by one.
The National Weather Service in Birmingham said over the weekend that an EF-1 tornado track has been found in Marion and Winston counties.
The latest tornado brings the total count from the Friday-Saturday round of storms to three. One of those was a top-end EF-3 tornado with 160 mph winds that resulted in one death and five injuries.
The newest confirmed tornado, which tracked through Marion and Winston counties, had top estimated winds of 110 mph. It had a path length of 17.05 miles and a path width of 675 yards. One person was injured.
The tornado touched down at 2:32 a.m. Saturday (April 1) on Marion County Road 348 south of Hackleburg. It rapidly strengthened and caused significant damage as it crossed Alabama Highway 253. The tornado continued east-northeast and destroyed a manufactured home near Chalk Mine Road.
The tornado crossed over the Fairview Community, damaging trees, and then headed toward the Lumbull Community. As it neared Bear Creek it caused significant damage along Alabama Highway 13, where a large metal building was damaged and winds were estimated near 110 mph.
The tornado crossed the highway and flipped a manufactured home, injuring its occupant. The tornado continued eastward and crossed into Winston County, causing minor damage to trees, a few homes and outbuildings. The tornado continued to cause damage near Posey Field and in a residential neighborhood. The tornado dissipated just north of County Road 68 just west of Alabama Highway 195.
In addition to that tornado over the weekend there was an EF-0 in Etowah County near Sardis City. That tornado was blamed for two injuries.
The National Weather Service in Birmingham said that tornado had top winds of 85 mph. It had a path length of 3.10 miles and a path width of 250 yards. The tornado touched down at 4:51 a.m. Saturday along Coosa Road and later lifted after crossing Broadwell Road near the Sardis Drive intersection.
The most powerful tornado of that event was an EF-3 that was blamed for one death in northern Madison County near the Tennessee border. It had top winds of 160 mph. The tornado had a path length of 12.10 miles and a path width of 215 yards, according to preliminary information from the weather service. It touched down at 3:09 a.m. Saturday in northern Madison County and tracked into Tennessee. The tornado also injured five people.
More strong to severe storms will be possible today in Alabama and again on Wednesday, according to forecasters.