PRELIMINARY TUSCALOOSA/BIRMINGHAM TORNADO TRACK

Thanks to my friends over at the Alabama Weather Blog for alerting me to the info. Kind of amazing to read about how that supercell was active for 7 hours a dissipated right here in Macon County, North Carolina.

PRELIMINARY DATA…
EVENT DATE: APRIL 27, 2011
EVENT TYPE: AT LEAST EF-4
ESTIMATED PEAK WINDS (MPH): AT LEAST 165
INJURIES/FATALITIES: AT LEAST 65 FATALITIES. OVER 1000 INJURIES.
EVENT START LOCATION AND TIME: 33.0297/-87.935 AT 443 PM
EVENT END LOCATION AND TIME: 33.6311/-86.7436 AT 614 PM
DAMAGE PATH LENGTH (IN MILES): APPROXIMATELY 80.3 MILES
DAMAGE WIDTH: 1.5 MILES CROSSING I-65

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS HAVE BEGUN SURVEYING THE
MASSIVE DAMAGE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS LONG TRACK TORNADO…BY GROUND
AND AIR. THE START POINT IS BASED ON AERIAL SURVEY…WHILE THE END
LOCATION WAS DETERMINED BY A GROUND CREW. THUS FAR…DETAILED DAMAGE
INSPECTION HAS REVEALED A MAXIMUM OF EF-4 DAMAGE IN THE PLEASANT
GROVE. CASUALTY INFORMATION IS BASED ON THE LATEST OFFICIAL RELEASES
FROM THE ALABAMA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY. THIS TORNADO WAS
PRODUCED BY A SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORM THAT BEGAN IN NEWTON COUNTY
MISSISSIPPI AT 254 PM CDT…FINALLY DISSIPATING IN MACON COUNTY
NORTH CAROLINA AT APPROXIMATELY 1018 PM CDT. SO…THIS SUPERCELL
EXISTED FOR ABOUT 7 HOURS AND 24 MINUTES…TRAVELING APPROXIMATELY
380 MILES PRODUCING SEVERAL STRONG TO VIOLENT TORNADOES ALONG THE
WAY. ADDITIONAL EVALUATION OF THE DAMAGE IN TUSCALOOSA AND JEFFERSON
COUNTY WILL CONTINUE TODAY TO DETERMINE IF THE RATING NEEDS TO BE
INCREASED. RESULTS WILL BE UPDATED WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE.

Here are some amazing photos from Meteorologist John Gumm in Cincinnati. His pilot friend was flying over Alabama at 41,000’ feet and took these pictures of the damage tracks in Green Co., AL