Tornadoes on January 23, 2012

Event Summary for Central Alabama

A strong cold front approached the region Sunday night and interacted with a very moist and unstable environment already in place. Numerous showers and thunderstorms developed along and out ahead of the front across Arkansas and Mississippi and pushed eastward across Central Alabama Sunday night and into Monday morning. There were several supercell thunderstorms that produced multiple tornadoes as they tracked across the forecast area. Numerous reports of straight-line wind damage and several reports of large hail and flash flooding were also received during the event. The information below is the PRELIMINARY (subject to change) summaries of the tornadoes from this day.

Each tornado path will be linked to its own webpage as more detailed information becomes available.

Location/Clickable Detailed Summary Link	Damage Rating/Estimated Maximum Wind Speeds	Injuries/Fatalities	Damage Path Length/Width	Starting Point/Time	Ending Point/Time
Panola (Sumter County)	EF-0 85 mph	None	0.36 miles 100 yards	32.9287/-88.2364 236 am	32.9316/-88.2312 237 am
Koffman (Tuscaloosa County)	EF-2 120 mph	None	0.45 miles 400 yards	33.3257/-87.6579 242 am	33.3305/-87.6526 243 am
Watermelon Rd (Tuscaloosa County)	EF-2 115 mph	None	0.56 miles 300 yards	33.3961/-87.4440 300 am	33.4038/-87.4395 301 am
Oak Grove (Tuscaloosa/Jefferson Counties)	EF-2 130 mph	1 Injury 1 Fatality	13.13 miles 880 yards	33.4316/-87.3071 309 am	33.5290/-87.1405 327 am
Parker (Sumter County)	EF-0 75 mph	None	1.1 miles 50 yards	32.6567/-88.1705 321 am	32.6718/-88.1639 324 am
Center Point (Jefferson/St. Clair Counties)	EF-3 150 mph	75 Injuries/ 1 Fatality	15.69 miles 800 yards	33.6228/-86.7411 358 am	33.7197/-86.4963 420 am
County Rd 7 (Perry County)	EF-1 110 mph	None	2.1 miles 300 yards	32.7068/-87.3096 433 am	32.7216/-87.2786 437 am
Maplesville (Perry/Chilton Counties)	EF-2 130 mph	None	39.77 miles 880 yards	32.7159/-87.2748 437 am	32.8764/-86.6322 530 am
DeSoto Caverns (Talladega County)	EF-0 80 mph	None	5.4 miles 50 yards	33.2957/-86.2951 535 am	33.3219/-86.2091 541 am
Enterprise (Chilton County)	EF-1 110 mph	None	3.63 miles 500 yards	32.7288/-86.6329 636 am	32.7657/-86.5886 640 am
North Millbrook (Elmore County)	EF-1 100 mph	None	4.02 miles 200 yards	32.5209/-86.4119 748 am	32.5309/-86.3437 755 am

The tornado damage "swaths" as depicted in the image above, and on the individual tornado links, are an estimate of the damage widths along the track. In other words, the track width may not represent the actual damage in all locations, as we interpolate the values between actual surveyed damage points. These maps are soley for the purpose of showing the general track of each tornado. Remember, tornadoes do not always move in straight lines, and the intensity does not remain constant. It is also possible to have other thunderstorm wind-related damage in close proximity to the tornado tracks from such features as inflow and rear flank downdrafts, which can produce tornado-like damage.

Pertinent Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Data from this Event

Severe Weather Episode Data

500 mb Analysis Jan 22 at 6 pm	500 mb Analysis Jan 23 at 6 am
Surface Analysis Jan 22 at 9 pm	Surface Analysis Jan 23 at 3 am
Day 2 Severe Weather Outlook Issued Jan 21 at 1130 am	Day 1 Severe Weather Outlook Issued Jan 22 at 1030 am
Storm Reports 01/22/12	Storm Reports 01/23/12
Shear Map	Upper Air Sounding Jan 22 at 6 pm
Reflectivity Loop	SRM Loop