Alabama - Madison & Limestone Counties 

East Central Limestone to Northeastern Madison County 

Summary

Extension of EF-2 tornado track in Madison County from Saturday March 3rd.

At the conclusion of Friday's storm survey near Highway 53 and Jeff road, the NWS storm survey team picked up the damage path crossing Highway 53 heading northeast.  Evidence of trees snapped and uprooted was seen along Quarter Mountain Road, Carter's Gin Road, and Beaver Dam Road just before Pulaski Pike.   More significant damage began to be seen along Patterson Lane where wooden power poles were snapped, numerous trees were uprooted and several homes experienced roof loss. A large metal barn/shed lost its roof and some of its walls were collapsed inward.  Damage continued along Highway 231 around Meridianville Middle School, where a concrete power pole was snapped and minor roof damage occurred to nearby buildings.

The tornado then appeared to strengthen between Hubert Road and Walker Lane, including Mitzi Drive.  In this area, EF-2 to low end EF-3 damage was seen.  At this location, several single story homes were destroyed.  Other homes received significant damage with complete loss of roofs and failure of exterior walls.  Estimated path width in this area was 200 to 250 yards. Just northeast of this location, along Charley Patterson Road, more EF-3 damage occurred as three brick veneer/cinderblock houses were reduced to rubble.  The tornado continued to produce significant damage along Butler Road (just south of Walker Lane), where additional concrete power poles were snapped and large oak trees were snapped and uprooted.  The damage path continued north of New Market, near Hillsboro with additional trees snapped/uprooted and some roof damage(loss of shingles) were seen to at some residences.  Damage here suggested the tornado was beginning to weaken.  Along Davis Road, just south of Moe Road, numerous trees were snapped or uprooted with severe shingle loss to a house about 200 yards from the road.   Beyond this, the tornado appeared to weaken and lift as it traveled across the higher plateau region of extreme northeast Madison County.  Attempts to find the damage path on the other side of the ridgeline (along Mountain Fork Road) were unsuccessful. 

*****Due to the information gathered from this followup survey, the start point of this tornado has been shifted several miles southwest near the Athens Country Club and Golf Course along Hatfield Lake Road off of Highway 31 and the EF Scale intensity has been raised to an EF-3 from an EF-2 rating.   Several trees were snapped and uprooted along a path that crossed I-65 and Strain Road.

Below is the storm survey from Limestone County to Madison County(Near Harvest) conducted on Friday, March 2nd.

Damage was first found along Lindsay Lane about 1 mile south of Highway 62 in East Central Limestone County.  In the Canebrake neighborhood, numerous homes sustained significant roof loss with garage doors blown out and some exterior wall damage.  Minor structural damage also occurred in the Indian Trace community off Woodland Road.  The tornado then crossed Highway 72 near Piney Creek and continued to track northeast.  At Mooresville Road and Pepper Road, numerous homes sustained significant damage, including major roof loss.  A brick garage was collapsed and numerous trees were snapped and uprooted.  As the tornado continued tracking northeast across McCulley Mill Road, additional homes were damaged, again sustaining major roof loss and some exterior wall collapse.  Significant structural damage to homes occurred along Nick Davis Road near East Limestone Road.  Damage continued to homes along Eagle Point Drive and Freedom Drive where a home completely lost its roof and other homes received major roof loss, broken windows and collapsed garages. 

The tornado crossed into Madison County just north of Orville Smith Road where a single wide modular home lost much of its roof and trees were snapped around it.  Major structural damage was seen again at the intersection of Yarbrough Road and Old Railroad Bed Road.  This was one of the worst hit areas around the Harvest Community.  Damage to homes, mostly collapsed roofs and some exterior wall damage continued east along Yarbrough Road across Bridges Drive and Bedford Lane, just before Wall Triana Blvd.  Also in this area, power poles were snapped near the base.  Damage continued northeast toward Highway 53 just south of Jeff Road where the survey ended due to inclement weather. 

These findings are preliminary and are subject to adjustment.

Tornado Damage Photos