March 3, 2019 Severe Threat

[CheeselandSkies]

Holy ****. Haven't heard of debris lofting like this since the two days in 2014 (Vilonia/Louisville) and before that, 4/27.

 

[Blizz]

I am so shocked how 23 people were killed in Lee county? What city did it hit? Did it hit a mobile home park? Tragic

[Radtechwxman]

Seen this graphic on FB. It went over a large amount of mobile homes

[downeastnc]

1 hour ago, StormChaser4Life said:

Seen this graphic on FB. It went over a large amount of mobile homes

It doesnt have to be that violent to wreck trailers, however this one looked fairly violent probably EF3 maybe even high end EF3.....folks in those trailers never had a chance, their options were get out of the way or go underground and very few places in the south have a underground option. 

[Windspeed]

This is the best footage so far of the Lee County wedge as it crossed US 280 near Smiths Station. The autofocus missed but you can clearly see the violent upward motion at the beginning.

 

[shaggy]

This guy basically drove right into the back of the circulation. Later in the video you can see the massive size of this tornado.

 

[lj0109]

18 hours ago, TellicoWx said:

Power Flashes reported on I20 at MM49 10 mins ago

That was my report. I was on the way back to Columbia from Nashville via ATL and was monitoring that cell as I was approaching CAE. Wish I had a dash cam for the footage, it was pretty incredible to see the sky light up as crossed I-20 about 3M to my East. 

[janetjanet998]

NWS Birmingham
‏
Verified account
 
@NWSBirmingham
 1m1 minute ago
More
BREAKING: Preliminary EF-4 Tornado Damage has been found along County Road 39 just east of Cave Mill Road in southwestern Lee County. Winds have been estimated at 170mph. Single family homes were completely destroyed. Photos are from those survey locations. #alwx

[CryHavoc]

2 hours ago, janetjanet998 said:

NWS Birmingham
‏
Verified account
 
@NWSBirmingham
 1m1 minute ago
More
BREAKING: Preliminary EF-4 Tornado Damage has been found along County Road 39 just east of Cave Mill Road in southwestern Lee County. Winds have been estimated at 170mph. Single family homes were completely destroyed. Photos are from those survey locations. #alwx

As there were no confirmed EF-4 Tornadoes in the United States in the calendar year of 2018, this marks the strongest tornado to touch down anywhere in the United States since the Canton Texas tornado of April 29th, 2017.

Pretty remarkable for an ENH risk day with a lot of factors working against it -- I know a lot of weather friends of mine weren't even really watching the day until it was obvious that something big was happening.  Sad that it hit so suddenly and in an area where it caused so many deaths.

[Buckethead]

KCAE has confirmed a 95mph EF1 touchdown just north of Riverbanks Zoo near I126 in Columbia and 2 EF1's in Lexington County, both along I20.  Same storm possibly.

[Calderon]

EF2 is the prelim for Cairo, GA.

[kperk014]

17 hours ago, Windspeed said:

This is the best footage so far of the Lee County wedge as it crossed US 280 near Smiths Station. The autofocus missed but you can clearly see the violent upward motion at the beginning.

 

 

DANG! That sucker was hauling ass!

[kperk014]

12 hours ago, shaggy said:

This guy basically drove right into the back of the circulation. Later in the video you can see the massive size of this tornado.

 

That was very 4/27/2011 ish.

[calculus1]

12 hours ago, shaggy said:

This guy basically drove right into the back of the circulation. Later in the video you can see the massive size of this tornado.

Is the video sped up in the second half?  If not, that guy is flying down those back-country roads.  Driving all over the road too.

[SmokeEater]

Is the video sped up in the second half?  If not, that guy is flying down those back-country roads.  Driving all over the road too.

It's not sped up, he's gotten a world of crap on social media for his driving. Even pulled into the driveway of that destroyed house just to get it on camera and leave.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[jpeters3]

Yeah... so Brett Adair chased this thing with a drone...

Never seen someone do that before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COuETqZz-rg

[downeastnc]

11 minutes ago, SmokeEater said:

It's not sped up, he's gotten a world of crap on social media for his driving. Even pulled into the driveway of that destroyed house just to get it on camera and leave.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 

Yeah that was ugh, I was expecting him to pull in get out and run to the house/structure and nope just turning around.....

[SluggerWx]

12 hours ago, jpeters3 said:

Yeah... so Brett Adair chased this thing with a drone...

Never seen someone do that before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COuETqZz-rg

This is quite the accomplishment... 

[wotan]

PNS for Lee County and three other tornadoes from Birmingham:

 

Quote

000
NOUS44 KBMX 050618
PNSBMX
ALZ011>015-017>050-051830-

Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Birmingham AL
1218 AM CST Tue Mar 5 2019

...NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR 03/03/2019 TORNADO EVENT...

...4TH TORNADO ADDED...

.OVERVIEW...
During the pre dawn and early morning hours Sunday, a low pressure
system moved east northeast from southeast Texas and across
Louisiana and Mississippi. As the low moved into Alabama, it pulled
a warm front northward into Central Alabama. This created a very
sharp moisture and instability gradient between the northwest half
and the southeast half of the area. Temperatures stayed in the 40s
and 50s in the northwest half of Central Alabama. South of the warm
front, readings shot up into the 60s and 70s. There was a sharp
contrast in dew points as well, with 40s and 50s in the northwest to
middle to upper 60s in the southeast. Therefore, the air south of
the warm front become very unstable. Additionally, winds in the
lower levels of the atmosphere veered with height enough to produce
a high shear environment. The environment was primed for severe
thunderstorm development including tornadoes. Numerous supercell
thunderstorms popped up by afternoon and lasted into the evening
hours.

Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes did develop in association with
this storm system. The severe weather affected Louisiana,
Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.

.TORNADO #1  Beauregard to Smiths Station Tornado (Macon & Lee
Counties)...

Rating:                 EF-4
Estimated Peak Wind:    170 mph
Path Length (Statute):  26.73 miles
Path Width (Maximum):   1600 yards
Fatalities:             23
Injuries:               90

Start Date:             03/03/2019
Start Time:             2:00 PM CST
Start Location:         3 NW Society Hill
Start Lat/Lon:          32.4472 / -85.4818

End Date:               03/03/2019
End Time:               2:29 PM CST
End Location:           3 NE Smiths Station
End Lat/Lon:            32.5750 / -85.0570

Survey Summary:

The tornado touched down just southwest of Rogers Road and just
northeast of U.S. Highway 80 in northeast Macon County. Initially
some small limbs were broken off of trees along with some pine
trees uprooted. The tornado then moved east across Calloway Baker
Road and across Glassy Mill Road where more pine trees were uprooted.

The tornado began to strengthen as it moved further east crossing
Macon County Highway 43 as it downed additional pine trees then
crossed the county line into southwest Lee County. The tornado
crossed Lee County Road 29 where the tornado removed the roof and
nearly collapsed a quarter of the cinder block walls of a church
along with uprooting several trees.

The tornado continued to intensify as it moved north of due east
crossing Lee County Road 11 where it peeled back sheet metal off
of the porch of a home and ripped some sheet metal off of two
outdoor storage sheds and continued to uproot pine trees. Debris
from structures and their contents were strewn along a tree line
to the east of their original location and some evidence of weak
ground rowing was observed along the surface tornado path.

The tornado reached its peak intensity just south of the
intersection of Lee County Road 36 and Lee County Road 39 where
it rolled a manufactured home and emptied its contents nearby on the
northern side of the track while additional damage toward the
southern portion of the track included the complete destruction of
a house with all debris tossed a short distance from the foundation.
The tornado bent the frame of a car around the remnant of a large
tree whose upper portion had broken off and totaled three vehicles
by severe impacts into the bases of two remaining tree stubs. Further
east on the other side of the small lake, a well-anchored and
constructed home was leveled with debris removed from the foundation
and anchored bolt screws remaining intact. Toward the northern edge
of the tornado, the destruction of two double-wide and a single-wide
manufactured home was surveyed. This was the peak intensity of the
tornado due to the combination of damage to the two houses along with
extensive severe tree damage including trees snapped at their bases
and large trees with expansive root systems fallen along with some
sporadic evidence of ground rowing.

The tornado began to decrease in intensity as it continued east roughly
paralleling Lee County Road 39 where two manufactured homes were destroyed
with most debris deposited away from the original location and both of
the metal frames of the mobile homes could not be located. Another
manufactured home was destroyed with its contents deposited in a swath
from the site into the remains of a nearby tree line. A car was found
in an overturned position against a hardy tree stripped of most limbs
with a mattress from a bed wrapped around the mid portion of the tree.
A badly mangled metal frame of a manufactured home and debris displaced
nearby was all that remained of one residence. Nearby a tractor trailer
rig was on its side and shoved around a sturdy tree while a nearby
site-built home lost nearly all of its exterior walls with debris
remaining on or near the home site. Severe tree destruction continued
into this area with trees snapped at their bases and uprooted. To the
north of Lee County Road 39 significant debris were deposited in the
wooded area where the tornado performed significant timber damage and
toppled at least one high-tension power line tower visible in the
near distance.

After demolishing two double-wide and a single-wide manufactured home
the tornado moved northeast and crossed Lee County Road 51 just north
of the intersection with Lee County Road 39 where double-wide manufactured
home was moved off of its base and the exterior walls collapsed on a
family residence while tree damage continued with snaps at the bases
of trees. Some weakening occurred further east as the tornado crossed
Lee County Road 38 where it deposited a large amount of debris into a
ragged forested area. The tornado moved slightly north of due east,
crossing Lee County Road 100 and Lee County Road 166 where it caused
damage to trees with some trunks snapped and some trees uprooted.

Tornado damage continued further east along Lee County Road 165 and
along portions of Lee County Road 40 and Lee County Road 2049 where
it collapsed exterior walls of a family residence removed most of the
roof of another house and caused some loss of roofing material from a
house and a manufactured home then the tornado flipped a manufactured
home and deposited its contents nearby along with destroying the roof
and walls of a single-wide manufactured home and caused continued tree
damage.

The tornado moved east across Lee County Road 170 then turned more to
the northeast where it crossed Lee County Road 401 near the intersection
with Lee County Road 175 and continued home and timber damage all the way
to Lee County Road 241.

The tornado continued northeast crossing Lee County Road 245 and Lee
County Road 179 with damage to the roof of a house along County Road
239 along with continued timber damage. The tornado then began to turn
more to the east as it approached Phenix City from the west, crossing
Lee County Road 239 and portions of Lee County Road 246 then affecting
portions of lee County Roads 289, 292, 290 with damage to the roof of
a house and timber damage.

The tornado crossed near Fullers Lake area where it rolled a manufactured
home over and caused some loss of roofing material to a house. Additional
damage occurred along Lee County Road 294 and Lee County Road 298 where a
professional building lost some of its roof materials and damage to siding
and roofing occurred to several small homes that were not well constructed.
As the tornado crossed U.S. Highway 280 it caused some roof damage to a
restaurant, damaged a billboard and collapsed a cellular service communications
 tower.

Timber damage occurred northeast of U.S. Highway 280 along Lee County Road 298.
The tornado moved more to the right and affected areas along Lee County Road
318 and 319 where some roof damage to homes occurred and much in the way of
timber damage resulted. A tree fell and crushed an outbuilding and a single-wide
manufactured home lost portions of its roof. The tornado moved northeast from
this point toward the Chattahoochee River where it caused roof damage to some
houses near the river and downed a metal high-tension power line tower. The
tornado crossed the Chattahoochee River and continued extensive damage in
Georgia. The tornado damage path was 26.73 miles long and was 1600 yards wide
at its widest point.

.TORNADO #2  Davisville to Corbett Crossroad Tornado (Macon & Lee
Counties)...

Rating:                 EF-2
Estimated Peak Wind:    115 mph
Path Length (Statute):  29.15 miles
Path Width (Maximum):   1300 yards
Fatalities:             0
Injuries:               1

Start Date:             03/03/2019
Start Time:             2:27 PM CST
Start Location:         3 ESE Liverpool
Start Lat/Lon:          32.3455 / -85.7356

End Date:               03/03/2019
End Time:               2:57 PM CST
End Location:           2 S Griffen Mill
End Lat/Lon:            32.4914 / -85.2738

Survey Summary:
The tornado touched down near the Mount Andrew community, along
Morgan Russel Road. This location is about 4 miles south of
Tuskegee. The damage was relatively weak and confined to tree
damage as the tornado roughly paralleled Morgan Russel Road and
then crossed Gautier Street. The tornado continued on a
northeastward trajectory and strengthened as it approached US
Highway 29. The most concentrated and highest damage occurred in
this location. Several stands of trees were completely mowed down,
with none left standing. Many thousands of trees were downed in and
near this spot. The tornado then crossed County Road 10, Red Road,
and County Road 71. Many hundreds of trees were downed along this
part of the damage path. As the tornado moved across County Road 24,
Fitzpatrick Road and County Road 91, numerous trees were downed,
several homes suffered varying degrees of roof damage, a few
outbuildings were destroyed, and a farm irrigation system was damaged.
As this tornado moved across US Highway 80 north of Society Hill and
into Lee County, it roughly paralleled the path of the previous
EF-4 tornado, about a mile or so to the south. The tornado continued
northeast and crossed County Road 29, County Road 11, Cave Mill Road,
AL Highway 51 (Marvyn Parkway), County Road 166, and finally ended
near County Road 170. Numerous trees were snapped off and uprooted
through Lee County. Many mobile homes and frame homes suffered varying
degrees of roof damage, several outbuildings were damaged and many
trees were downed. Two mobile homes were rolled over near the end of
the damage path and one person was injured. The tornado damage path
was 29.15 miles long and was 1300 yards wide at its widest point.

.TORNADO #3  County Road 79 Tornado (Barbour County)...

Rating:                 EF-2
Estimated Peak Wind:    115 mph
Path Length (Statute):  6.68 miles
Path Width (Maximum):   700 yards
Fatalities:             0
Injuries:               0

Start Date:             03/03/2019
Start Time:             3:45 PM CST
Start Location:         3 SSW Batesville
Start Lat/Lon:          31.9653 / -85.3392

End Date:               03/03/2019
End Time:               3:55 PM CST
End Location:           1 SW Lugo
End Lat/Lon:            31.9509 / -85.2283

Survey Summary:
A tornado touched down near Mary C Smith Road, just north and west
of County Road 79. This location is between Batesville and Clayton.
The initial damage was limited to trees being snapped and uprooted.
The tornado moved eastward and crossed County Road 79 and Reverend
Crawford Road. Once again, there were numerous trees snapped and
uprooted in these areas. The most significant damage occurred just
east of Reverend Crawford Road, where all trees in a large area were
completely mowed down. Additionally, a large wooden double power
pole was also knocked down. This area is still under evaluation. At
this point, the tornado turned to the right, an east southeast direction,
eventually lifting between Old Batesville Road and Lugo. Hundreds of
additional trees were damaged at this point. The tornado damage path
was 6.68 miles long and was 700 yards wide at its widest point.

.TORNADO #4 Weedon Field Tornado (Barbour County)...

Rating:                 EF-2
Estimated Peak Wind: 130
Path Length (Statute): 4.20 miles
Path Width (Maximum): 600 yards
Fatalities: 0
Injuries: 0

Start Date:             03/03/2019
Start Time:             3:58 PM CST
Start Location:         3 NW Old Town Creek Rec Area
Start Lat/Lon:          31.9483 / -85.1537

End Date:               03/03/2019
End Time:               4:03 PM CST
End Location:           3 NE Old Town Creek Rec Area
End Lat/Lon:            31.9485 / -85.0833

Survey Summary:
A tornado touched down about 4 miles north of Eufaula, between US
Highway 82 and US Highway 431. The tornado started at the very end
of Hidden Acres Road, due west of Weedon Field. At this initial
point, several trees were knocked down and a few outbuildings were
damaged. The tornado continued east northeast and crossed County
Road 97. Here, the tornado strengthened slightly. Numerous trees
were snapped or uprooted, a few mobile homes suffered damaged, and
a few homes suffered some roof damage. The tornado stayed on its
path and entered the Weedon Field complex. This is where the most
extensive damage occurred. Numerous trees around the complex were
snapped and uprooted. One home suffered damage, several metal
structure buildings were completely destroyed, and several
airplanes were damaged or destroyed. The tornado moved eastward
and weakened slightly after crossing US Highway 431. The tornado
damaged a few buildings and downed trees along Roseland Drive.
Some evaluation of the damage east of US Highway 431 is still
underway. The tornado then crossed Walter F George Reservoir
(Chattahoochee River) and into Georgia where it was still
producing damage. The tornado damage path was 4.20 miles long and
was 600 yards wide at its widest point.

 

[shaggy]

The start and end times matched with miles traveled shows most of these tornados were just flat out hauling ass. 

[eyewall]

On 3/4/2019 at 9:33 PM, jpeters3 said:

Yeah... so Brett Adair chased this thing with a drone...

Never seen someone do that before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COuETqZz-rg

I am amazed he didn't lose it in that!