The storm system responsible for the 2011 Outbreak as seen from space. [Photo by NASA]
Springtime in Alabama can be defined by rainy weather, fair temperatures, humidity, and also tornadoes. While most associate tornadoes with the infamous Tornado Alley that stretches across the Great Plains, there is a little lesser known tornado prone region called Dixie Alley, which includes Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama.
While the typical tornado season in the United States runs from May to June, the time comes early in Dixie Alley, sometimes starting as early as February. However, the South also has a second tornado season in the fall when the warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico collides with incoming cold dry air from the north.
While tornadoes are less frequent here, they have been proven to be far more deadly than tornadoes that occur on the Great Plains. One reason could be due to the fact that tornadoes are generally long tracked and go through highly populated areas with the southern states having higher populations than those upon the Great Plains. Tornadoes here can also be harder to spot due to being rain wrapped or obscured by forests or hills—and when people don’t see a tornado despite a tornado warning having been issued, people do not react.
This is nothing new in Alabama. In November of 1874, at least three tornadoes were reported within the state. This outbreak was the result of a weather bomb that affected the Midwest. The New York Times reported that in Tucumbia, the day of the tornado was hot like a day in July before an F4 tornado impacted the town. At least fourteen were killed from this tornado. Another tornado in Campbell County reportedly threw a wooden screw weighing several tons into the air.
The 1974 Super Outbreak has faded slightly from memory, but it was the first outbreak to produce over a 100 tornadoes. The first tornado of the outbreak touched down in Lawrence County Alabama and was on the ground for ninety minutes till dissipating in Madison County, having taken twenty-eight lives. This tornado was one of three F5s that impacted the state of Alabama during the outbreak.
While tornadoes are less frequent here, they have been proven to be far more deadly than tornadoes that occur on the Great Plains. One reason could be due to the fact that tornadoes are generally long tracked and go through highly populated areas with the southern states having higher populations than those upon the Great Plains. Tornadoes here can also be harder to spot due to being rain wrapped or obscured by forests or hills—and when people don’t see a tornado despite a tornado warning having been issued, people do not react.
This is nothing new in Alabama. In November of 1874, at least three tornadoes were reported within the state. This outbreak was the result of a weather bomb that affected the Midwest. The New York Times reported that in Tucumbia, the day of the tornado was hot like a day in July before an F4 tornado impacted the town. At least fourteen were killed from this tornado. Another tornado in Campbell County reportedly threw a wooden screw weighing several tons into the air.
The 1974 Super Outbreak has faded slightly from memory, but it was the first outbreak to produce over a 100 tornadoes. The first tornado of the outbreak touched down in Lawrence County Alabama and was on the ground for ninety minutes till dissipating in Madison County, having taken twenty-eight lives. This tornado was one of three F5s that impacted the state of Alabama during the outbreak.
Pavement stripped from the road from the Phil-Cambell tornado. [Photo by NWS Huntsville] The 2011 Super Outbreak was the fourth-deadliest in the United States, with sixty-two tornadoes touching down within the state on April 27. The most infamous was the Tuscaloosa-Birmingham tornado that left an approximately eighty-mile path of destruction and took the lives of sixty-four people, including six students at the University of Alabama. While the Tuscaloosa-Birmingham tornado was the most notable, it was not the strongest to impact Alabama during the outbreak. The Phil-Cambell tornado took the title with winds reaching up to 210 mph and tracking 106 miles, destroying houses and damaging their block foundations, and even ripping up a section of pavement and throwing it a third of a mile away.
In 2022, ninety-eight tornadoes touched down in Alabama, only forty-seven tornadoes behind 2011. As of writing this in 2023, fourteen tornadoes have touched down in the state with the annual average being sixty. However, across the United States, the 2023 tornado season is already off to a start of more tornadoes than average per month, and only time will tell how frequent tornadoes will occur in Alabama this year.
In 2022, ninety-eight tornadoes touched down in Alabama, only forty-seven tornadoes behind 2011. As of writing this in 2023, fourteen tornadoes have touched down in the state with the annual average being sixty. However, across the United States, the 2023 tornado season is already off to a start of more tornadoes than average per month, and only time will tell how frequent tornadoes will occur in Alabama this year.
About the author
John Morgan Underwood is from Springville, Alabama, and is a student at the University of Alabama majoring in English and minoring in News and Media. His family moved around a lot during his childhood before residing in Alabama.
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