National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Event Summary

A strong cold front pushed east from northwestern Mississippi and eastern Arkansas toward the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys during the mid to late afternoon hours on November 18th, 2017.  Strong southerly flow out of the Gulf of Mexico allowed temperatures to climb into the upper 60s to lower 70s, despite abundant cloud cover throughout the day. This very strong southerly flow also increased moisture/instability just ahead of this frontal boundary.  The strong cold front can be seen in the image below on the left stretching from just east of Memphis, TN north into Indiana. Below on the right is the day 1 outlook for severe weather issue by the Storm Prediction Center at 10:30 AM. 

Image Image
Click on image to view a larger image Convective Outlook (SPC) issued at 1030 AM Nov. 18th, 2017

During the late afternoon and early evening hours, this very strong cold front moved southeast and through northern Alabama and southern Middle Tennessee.  Very strong forcing, robust winds aloft, enough instability, and good change of wind direction with height combined to produce a line of severe thunderstorms that produced widespread wind and a few tornadoes. Below on the right is a loop of the line of strong to severe storms that developed along and just ahead of the cold front as it moved through. To its left is an image of documented storm reports that were received through 6 PM on 11/18/2017.


Image Image
Click to image to view the storm reports. Radar loop: 3 PM through midnight on Nov. 18th, 2017. 

Hatton, AL
Lawrence County, AL 

Date November 18, 2017
Start Time (Local) 5:18 PM CST
End Time (Local) 5:24 PM CDT
Start Location 4.2 miles NE of Hatton
End Location 4.3 miles NNE of Hatton
EF Rating EF-1
Est. Peak Winds 110 mph
Path Length 4.3 miles
Max Width 300 yards
Injuries/Deaths 0/0

Summary:

The tornado looks to have touched down on CR-140 and along a forested area just west of where CR-140 and AL Highway 157 intersect. Just east of 157, a house had significant damage. The tin roof was peeled away from its wooden supports, some of which were broken. Large trees were snapped and uprooted and were laying in multiple directions. A well constructed sturdy barn with metal supports was completely mangled and collapsed. Debris from the barn and the house was tossed into the woods behind it and wrapped around trees. The tornado then tracked east, with a swath of damage bordering and along CR-140. The houses all along this road had shingle damage, as well as a few holes through the wood of the roof. Another house had an east facing door blown in with a back porch pulled away from another. One house in particular, along with roof damage, had a roof completely removed from a large car port with its supports pulled from the concrete.  A trailer was also picked up and placed on top of a tractor. This house also had a row of trees completely snapped near the center of the tree. All along the road there were very large trees uprooted and trunks snapped. The tornado moved east through forested areas before impacting more houses along CR-449. One house had a window blown out and an interior door was twisted along with a small outbuilding collapsed. Next door, a mobile home had the tin peeled off and twisted and some thrown around trees.  Siding on the back side was peeled off and the undercarriage was blown out in a few places. A standalone garage port was slightly shifted off its foundation with the doors blown in. Multiple trees were uprooted and snapped as well. The tornado crossed AL-101 uprooting trees. A mobile home had a few shingles missing along with a few trees uprooted and snapped were found near CR-256 and Broad Hollow Road. No damage was found east of this point.

       

Track Map

                   Track Map

 

Littleville, AL
Colbert County, AL 

Date November 18, 2017
Start Time (Local) 5:01 PM CST
End Time (Local) 5:04 PM CST
Start Location 3.5 miles W of Littleville
End Location 1.7 miles W of Littleville
EF Rating EF-1
Est. Peak Winds 95 mph
Path Length 1.8 miles
Max Width 200 yards
Injuries/Deaths 0/0

Summary:  

The tornado touched down in the vicinity of Ligon Springs Road, about half a mile north of where Ligon Springs Road turns east. Multiple trees in this area were uprooted. The tornado then tracked almost due east. Where the tornado intersected Cook Creek Road, there were numerous trees uprooted and smaller trunks snapped. A house was also damaged on Cook Creek Road. The garage attached to the house was almost completely collapsed and was pulled away from the main house. The house also had some shingle and siding damage as well as the porch supports blown out.  Multiple trees behind the home were uprooted and smaller trunks were snapped. The tornado continued to track east and cross the eastern portion of Ligon Springs Road. On this road, a small barn was mostly collapsed along with a few trees uprooted and lying across the road. No additional damage was found farther east.

 

      Track Map

                    Track Map
 

Additionally, high-end straight line damage was found in Lauderdale County that was not tornadic.

Summary:

This damage was found near Killen, AL. The Emergency manageers extensively surveyed the damage the night of November 18th and through the day on the 19th. They determined the damage was a result of high-end straight lined winds, estimated at 80 to 90 mph. With squall lines wind damage occurs very frequently in a linear fashion and in wide swaths. Straight line winds can be as strong or stronger than some weaker tornadoes and produce extensive damage. We thank the Emergency Managers for conducting a thorough investigation.

Back to the Top of the Page

Upper Air Charts

 

Image

250mb Chart at 6am November 18th

Image

500mb Chart at 6am November 18th

Image

850mb Chart at 6am November 18th

Image

250mb Chart at 6pm November 18th

Image

500mb Chart at 6pm November 18th

Image

850mb Chart at 6pm November 18th

Back to the Top of the Page

Surface Charts

 

Image

6AM Nov. 18th

Image

Noon Nov. 18th

Image

3pm Nov. 18th

Image

6pm Nov. 18th

Image

9pm Nov. 18th

Image

Midnight Nov. 18th

Back to the Top of the Page

SPC Outlooks

 

Image

Day 1 Outlook 
Issued 10:30 am Nov. 18th

 

Image

Day 2 Outlook 
Issued 12:03 pm Nov 17th

Image

Day 3 Outlook
Issued 2:30 am Nov. 16th

Image

Day 1 Tornado Probability
Issued 10:30 am Nov. 18th

Image

Day 1 Wind Probability
Issued 10:30 am Nov. 18th

Image

Day 1 Hail Probability
Issued 10:30 am Nov. 18th

Back to the Top of the Page