National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Tornadoes of March 31, 2020

Event Summary for Central Alabama

 

A strong upper level disturbance caused a wave of low pressure to form along a quasi-stationary front and move eastward along the Highway 80 and Interstate 85 corridors. This allowed a warm front to lift northward across the southeast portions of Central Alabama. North of the warm front, a line of showers with sporadic lightning strikes along an inverted trough was able to produce damaging winds despite a cool and stable air mass at the surface, knocking down numerous trees from Tuscaloosa County to Randolph County during the first part of the morning. A QLCS ahead of the cold front moved eastward later in the morning from Lowndes County to Barbour County, producing sporadic damaging winds. Additionally, bookend vortices and embedded supercell structures caused 1 weak tornado in Montgomery County, 3 weak tornadoes in Pike County, and a strong tornado near Eufaula in Barbour County.

**The data below is considered PRELIMINARY.**

Interactive Tornado Map
 
 
Location/Clickable Detailed Summary Link
Damage Rating/Estimated Maximum Wind Speeds
Injuries/Fatalities
Damage Path Length/Width
Starting Point/Time
Ending Point/Time
Smith Gamble Tornado
(Montgomery County)
EF-0
70 mph
None
3.33 miles
190 yards

2 WNW Meadville
32.0817/-86.1751
10:23 am CDT

3 NNE Meadville
32.1071/-86.1270
10:30 am CDT
EF-0
70 mph
None
0.14 miles
80 yards

4 WSW Orion
31.9371/-86.0665
10:33 am CDT

4 WSW Orion
31.9379/-86.0643
10:33 am CDT
Troy Airport Tornado
(Pike County)
EF-0
80 mph
None
1.61 miles
80 yards

1 WSW Troy Municipal Airport
31.8539/-86.0307
10:34 am CDT

1 SE Troy Municipal Airport
31.8580/-86.0037
10:36 am CDT
Sandfield Tornado
(Pike County)
EF-0
75 mph
None
0.83 miles
180 yards

1 S Sandfield
31.9011/-85.8111
10:51 am CDT

1 ESE Sandfield
31.9025/-85.7972
10:52 am CDT
Eufaula Tornado
(Barbour County)
EF-2
130 mph
None
7.85 miles
350 yards

3 ENE Baker Hill
31.8016/-85.2636
11:34 am CDT

5 S Eufaula
31.8173/-85.1313
11:46 am CDT
 

Pertinent Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Data from this Event

 

Severe Weather Episode Data 

250 mb
250 mb Analysis
March 31 at 7 am

500 mb
500 mb Analysis
March 31 at 7 am

850 mb
850 mb Analysis
March 31 at 7 am

Surface
Surface Analysis
March 31 at 7 am

Surface
Surface Analysis
March 31 at 10 am

Surface
Surface Analysis
March 31 at 1 pm

Severe Threats
Local Severe Outlook
Issued March 29 at 310 am

Severe Threats
Local Severe Outlook
Issued March 30 at 410 am

Severe Threats
Local Severe Outlook
Issued March 31 at 230 am

KLIX Sounding
KLIX Sounding
March 31 at 7 am

KBMX Sounding
KBMX Sounding
March 31 at 7 am

KTLH Sounding
KTAE Sounding
March 31 at 7 am

Storm Reports
Storm Reports
March 31