National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

 

 

Severe Weather Event from January 19-22, 2017

Event Summary for Central Alabama

After over a week of near-record to record high temperatures, several upper-level disturbances followed by a strong upper-level low pressure system produced multiple rounds of severe weather across Central Alabama. This system was characterized by strong upper-level winds and very cold upper-level temperatures. The first round produced one brief, weak tornado in St. Clair County on the evening of January 19. The second round occurred on the morning of January 20 with 12 tornadoes across Marengo, Elmore, Macon, Lee, Pike, and Barbour Counties. A third round produced damaging straight line winds on the night of January 21, including in the Birmingham metro area where the Birmingham airport measured a 75 mph wind gust and in Oneonta where 80 mph straight-line winds caused significant damage.  A brief tornado also occurred in Tuscaloosa County with this activity. Finally, a fourth round moved through during the day on January 22 with 3 tornadoes across Bullock and Lee Counties. 

The information contained below is from the 17 individual tornado events and 1 straight line wind damage event that occurred. The data is PRELIMINARY and may be subject to change.

 
 
Location/Clickable Detailed Summary Link
Damage Rating/Estimated Maximum Wind Speeds
Injuries/Fatalities
Damage Path Length/Width
Starting Point/Time
Ending Point/Time
Treasure Island Tornado
(St. Clair County)
EF-1
90 mph
None
0.7 miles
175 yards

2 ENE Coosa Island 33.4785/-86.3045
558 pm on Jan 19

5 SSW Pell City 33.4877/-86.3025
600 pm on Jan 19
Putnam Tornado
(Marengo County)
EF-1
110 mph
None
5.49 miles
800 yards
1.6 SSW Democrat 32.0041/-88.1100
529 am on Jan 21
0.9 ESE Putnam
32.0237/-88.0173
743 pm on Jan 21
Wayne Tornado
(Marengo County)
EF-1
90 mph
None 4.17 miles
900 yards
1.6 SSW Wayne
32.0988/-87.7823
555 am on Jan 21
1.1 ENE Miller
32.1570/-87.7634
601 am on Jan 21
Wetumpka Tornado
(Elmore County)
EF-1
100 mph
None 1.53 miles
450 yards
1.4 S Wetumpka
32.5299/-86.2179
755 am on Jan 21
0.7 E Wetumpka 32.5504/-86.2081
758 am on Jan 21
Willow Springs Road Tornado
(Elmore County)
EF-1
90 mph
None 0.68 miles
200 yards
6.0 ESE Man
32.4692/-86.1733
755 am on Jan 21
5.7 SSE Wetumpka 32.4785/-86.1697
756 am on Jan 21
Emerald Mountain Tornado
(Elmore County)
EF-0
75 mph
None 0.21 miles
90 yards
2 S Emerald Mountain
32.4359/-86.1064
757 am on Jan 21
1 S Emerald Mountain 32.4388/-86.1052
757 am on Jan 21
Society Hill Tornado
(Macon and Lee Counties)
EF-1
90 mph
None 2.84 miles
100 yards
3 N Society Hill
32.4740/-85.4557
848 am on Jan 21
4 SW Beauregard 32.5090/-85.4303
850 am on Jan 21
Wright Crossroads Tornado
(Lee County)
EF-0
70 mph
None 2.38 miles
150 yards
5 S Auburn
32.5267/-85.4825
849 am on Jan 21
3 SSE Auburn 32.5500/-85.4523
853 am on Jan 21
Troy/Louisville Tornado
(Pike and Barbour Counties)
EF-1
90 mph
None
37.34 miles
400 yards

5 N Goshen
31.7870/-86.1345
855 am on Jan 21

3 E Louisville
31.7882/-85.4987
938 am on Jan 21
Moores Mill Road Tornado
(Lee County)
EF-0
70 mph
None 1.07 miles
150 yards
2 NNE Beauregard
32.5626/-85.3572
856 am on Jan 21
5 SSE Opelika
32.5777/-85.3529
858 am on Jan 21
Robinson Creek Tornado
(Lee County)
EF-0
65 mph
None 0.83 miles
150 yards
3 SSE Opelika
32.6138/-85.3677
900 am on Jan 21
2 SSE Opelika
32.6240/-85.3603
901 am on Jan 21
Crawford Tornado
(Lee County)
EF-0
80 mph
None 0.12 miles
50 yards
2 NW Crawford
32.4811/-85.2189
908 am on Jan 21
2 NW Crawford
32.4828/-85.2183
908 am on Jan 21
Smiths Station Tornado
(Lee County)
EF-1
90 mph
None 0.92 miles
300 yards
1 W Smiths Station
32.5294/-85.1094
919 am on Jan 21
Smiths Station
32.5377/-85.0971
920 am on Jan 21
Hagler Tornado
(Tuscaloosa County)
EF-0
80 mph
None 0.28 miles
200 yards
1 N Hagler
33.0439/-87.3412
1236 am on Jan 22
1 N Hagler
33.0471/-87.3381
1237 am on Jan 22
Oneonta Straight Line Wind Damage
(Blount County)
EF: N/A
80 mph
None 1.40 miles
1000 yards
Oneonta
33.9464/-86.4761
138 am on Jan 22
Oneonta
33.9464/-86.4761
140 am on Jan 22
Shopton Tornado
(Bullock County)
EF-1
90 mph
None
1.98 miles
320 yards

1 NW Shopton
32.1254/-85.9570
106 pm on Jan 22

2 NNE Shopton
32.1386/-85.9269
111 pm on Jan 22
Longleaf Drive Tornado
(Lee County)
EF-0
70 mph
None 4.76 miles
200 yards
4 NE Tuskegee National Forest
32.5302/-85.5572
146 pm on Jan 22
1 SW Auburn
32.5797/-85.5004
156 pm on Jan 22
Shady Park Tornado
(Lee County)
EF-1
95 mph
None
3.08 miles
540 yards

0.7 NE Robert G. Pitts Airport (AUO)
32.6262/-85.4207
200 pm on Jan 22

1 ESE Sougahatchee Lake
32.6677/-85.4015
207 pm on Jan 22

Pertinent Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Data from this Event

 

Severe Weather Episode Data 

300 mb
300 mb Analysis
Jan 19 at 6 pm

500 mb
500 mb Analysis
Jan 19 at 6 pm

850 mb
850 mb Analysis
  Jan 19 6 pm

300 mb
300 mb Analysis
Jan 20 at 6 pm

500 mb
500 mb Analysis
Jan 20 at 6 pm

850 mb
850 mb Analysis
  Jan 20 at 6 pm

300 mb
300 mb Analysis
Jan 21 at 6 am

500 mb
500 mb Analysis
Jan 21 at 6 am

850 mb
850 mb Analysis
  Jan 21 at 6 am

300 mb
300 mb Analysis
Jan 21 at 6 pm

500 mb
500 mb Analysis
Jan 21 at 6 pm

850 mb
850 mb Analysis
Jan 21 at 6 pm

300 mb
300 mb Analysis
Jan 22 at 6 am

500 mb
500 mb Analysis
Jan 22 at 6 am

850 mb
850 mb Analysis
Jan 22 at 6 am

sfc
Surface Analysis
Jan 19 at 6 pm

sfc
Surface Analysis
Jan 20 at 6 pm

sfc
Surface Analysis
Jan 21 at 6 am

sfc
Surface Analysis
Jan 21 at 6 pm

sfc
Surface Analysis
Jan 22 at 6 am


 

Day 1
Day 1 Outlook
Issued Jan 19 at 2 pm

Tornado
Day 1 Tornado Probabilities 
Issued Jan 19 at 2 pm

Wind
Day 1 Wind Damage Probabilities
Issued Jan 19 at 2 pm

Day 1
Day 1 Outlook
Issued Jan 20 at 7 pm

Tornado
Day 1 Tornado Probabilities
Issued Jan 20 at 7 pm

Wind
Day 1 Wind Damage Probabilities
Issued Jan 20 at 7 pm

Day 1
Day 1 Outlook
Issued Jan 21 at 7 am

Tornado
Day 1 Tornado Probabilities
Issued Jan 21 at 7 am

Wind
Day 1 Wind Damage Probabilities
Issued Jan 21 at 7 am

Day 1
Day 1 Outlook
Issued Jan 21 at 7 pm

Tornado
Day 1 Tornado Probabilities
Issued Jan 21 at 7 pm

Wind
Day 1 Wind Damage Probabilities
Issued Jan 21 at 7 pm

Day 1
Day 1 Outlook
Issued Jan 22 at 7 am

Tornado
Day 1 Tornado Probabilities
Issued Jan 22 at 7 am

Wind
Day 1 Wind Damage Probabilities
Issued Jan 22 at 7 am

Sounding
KBMX Sounding
  Jan 19 at 6 am

Sounding
KBMX Sounding
  Jan 20 at 6 pm

Sounding
KBMX Sounding
Jan 21 at 4 am

Sounding
KBMX Sounding
  Jan 21 at 6 pm

Sounding
KBMX Sounding
  Jan 22 at 6 am

Sounding
KBMX Sounding
Jan 22 at 12 pm


Storm Reports
Jan 19

   Storm Reports
Jan 21

Storm Reports
Storm Reports
Jan 20

Storm Reports
Jan 22

 

 

 

 

Rainfall
Rainfall Plot
4 Day Total Ending Jan 23 7 am