Late April 2019 Tornado Outbreak

Late April 2019 Outbreak

A picture of an EF4 tornado striking Bibb County, Alabama.
Date of tornado outbreak:	April 29-30th, 2019
Duration1:	44 hours, 17 minutes
Maximum rated tornado2:	EF5 tornado
Tornadoes caused:	94
Damages:	$3.89 billion (2019 USD)
Fatalities:	63
Areas affected:	Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida
1Time from first tornado to last tornado 2Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale

This deadly outbreak of tornadoes occurred over a period of two days across the southeastern United States from April 29th to April 30th, 2019. Numerous significant and long-track tornadoes were spawned in the outbreak, resulting in major damage and 63 deaths. The 29th was the most significant of the two days, with most of the tornadoes occuring that afternoon through that night. That day, tornadoes raked across Mississippi and Alabama, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damages and dozens of deaths, as well as thousands of injuries. Most of the tornadoes on the 30th were spawned early in the morning, and occurred in a squall line that had formed as a result of the storms from the previous day. These storms impacted Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida. 55 tornadoes struck Alabama, 23 hit Mississippi, 10 hit Georgia, and Florida and South Carolina both had three tornadoes. Overall, the outbreak will be a part of southeastern weather history for years to come.

Tornado statistics

Confirmed Total

Confirmed EF0

Confirmed EF1

Confirmed EF2

Confirmed EF3

Confirmed EF4

Confirmed EF5

94

18

43

20

8

4

1

Outbreak death toll

State	Total
Alabama	37
Mississippi	19
Georgia	7
Totals	63

Notable tornadoes

April 29 event

List of notable tornadoes - April 29, 2019
EF#	Location	County	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Mississippi
EF3	SW of Sturgis to N of Artesia	Oktibbeha, Lowndes	1849	26.1 mi (42 km)	This intense tornado began just southwest of Sturgis, Mississippi around 2:49 PM CDT. It was the first strong tornado of the day. It did only minor damage to a few businesses and trailer homes in Sturgis, earning an EF1 rating there. The tornado rapidly intensified as it exited Sturgis, and moved through central Oktibbeha County where it debarked trees completely, and was the primary reason for the EF3 rating. As it moved south of Starkville, other low-end EF3 damage was noted to three homes, which had their outer walls knocked down. Then a weakening trend began as it exited the county, and the tornado dissipated north of Artesia, Mississippi in western Lowndes County.
EF3	N of Pheba to Una	Clay	1345	20 mi (32 km)	3 Deaths - This tornado hit several unincorporated communities in western Clay County, Mississippi, where it demolished mobile homes, killing three people. It was rain-wrapped, and there isn't any good photos of the tornado itself, but rather the rain shaft around the tornado.
EF4	Shannon (MS) to S of Red Bay (AL)	Lee, Itawamba, Franklin (AL)	1945	38.4 mi (61.8 km)	14 Deaths - this was a violent tornado that touched down in Shannon Mississippi around 3:45 PM CDT. The tornado caused mainly EF1 and EF2 damage as it moved through eastern Lee County and into western Itawamba County. As the tornado entered the city of Fulton, it produced EF4 damage, killing 12 people in the city, and injuring 187. Several homes and businesses were turned into piles of rubble. Damage Surveyors estimated the wind speeds to be around 180 mph. The tornado caused EF3 damage to a trailer park in northeastern Itawamba County, killing two more people there. The tornado weakened shortly after, and crossed into Alabama, were it produced some EF0 damage south of Red Bay before it dissipated at 4:31 PM CDT.
Alabama
EF4	SW of Haleyville to SW of Huntsville	Marion, Winston, Lawrence, Morgan, Madison	1958	72.2 mi (116 km)	4 deaths - This violent EF4 tornado, with estimated peak wind speeds of of 180 mph, began at 3:58 PM CDT in eastern Marion County, Alabama. It initially was very weak and only produced minor EF0 and EF1 damage to trees. The tornado underwent rapid intensification as it entered Haleyville in northwest Winston County, where EF3 damage was noted with estimated winds of 150 mph, as it damaged numerous homes and businesses. No one was killed in Haleyville, but dozens were injured, with ten in critical condition. The tornado continued on a northeast path and exited Winston County, and entered Lawrence County, where it scoured a trench four inches deep and debarked hundreds of trees. As the tornado passed south of Moulton, low-end EF4 damage was found at two homes, which had been reduced to piles of debris. The tornado continued moving northeast, into Morgan County. The National Weather Service in Huntsville, Alabama issued a tornado emergency for the northwestern part of the county, which included the city of Decatur. As the tornado passed through the southern suburbs of the city, significant damage occurred, and four people died. Wind speeds were estimated to be at 180 mph. Dozens of homes were destoyed, and the scene was reported as "complete destruction." One home was swept away, but it was discovered that the home was very old and hadn't passes numerous inspections, preventing surveyors from upgrading the rating or increasing the estimated wind speeds. The tornado then passed between Priceville and Mooresville where low-end EF3 damage was noted with estimated wind speeds of 140 mph. AT 4:19 PM CDT, the tornado lifted southwest of Huntsville, near the community of Redstone Arsenal.
EF4	NE of Vila to Town Creek	Franklin, Colbert, Lawrence	0354	39.7 mi (61 km)	5 deaths - After the Fulton (MS) tornado lifted, the same supercell cycled and put down another violent tornado. The tornado touched down just northeast of Vila, Alabama, in southwestern Franklin County. EF2 damage was noted as it moved through the central part of the county, with one home and the trees surrounding it displaying low end EF3 damage. AS the tornado moved into the northeastern part of the county, it struck the town of Russelville, were low-end EF4 damage was noted, with numerous homes and businesses either reduced to rubble or only having one or two interior walls remaining. As the tornado crossed southeast of Littleville, Alabama, several outbuildings were destroyed, and a man caught out in the storm was killed. The tornado briefly crossed through extreme southeastern Colbert County where EF1 damage was observed, and dissipated near Town Creek, Alabama in Lawrence County. The tornado ended up killing five people and had estimated peak wind speeds of 170 mph.
EF3	SW of Lisman to NE of Demopolis	Chocktaw, Sumter, Marengo, Hale	1300	50.2 mi (80.8 km)	2 deaths - this high end EF3 tornado, with estimated wind speeds of 165 mph at its peak, began in western Chocktwaw County, Alabama, just east of the Mississippi border. The tornado caused EF0 damage to trees and power lines, before entering Lisman, where it did EF2 damage to numerous homes. The tornado moved northeast through rural parts of northeastern Chocktaw County, debarking trees and flattening outbuildings. A low-end EF3 rating was applied to these areas in the northeastern part of the county. The tornado briefly entered extreme southeast Sumter County, before entering northwest Marengo County. The tornado continued to produce high-end EF2/low-end EF3 damage as it did so. The tornado entered the city of Demopolis and did significant damage. Numerous homes and businesses had only one interior room left standing, and in some cases were nearly reduced to rubble. This earned the tornado a high-end EF3 rating in the city, where two people were killed. The tornado weakened as it left the city, producing EF1 damage in extreme southwest Hale county before lifting at 4:56 PM CDT.
EF5	N of Pickensville to E of Sumiton	Pickens, Tuscaloosa, Walker, Jefferson	1750	84 mi (135 km)	20 deaths - Extremely violent and long-tracked tornado. The tornado began north of Pickensville, Alabama, on what would go on to be an 84 mile path. The tornado was moving east-northeast through Pickens County, and caused EF2 damage south of Reform, where numerous homes were damaged and nine people were injured. The tornado strengthened to an EF4 tornado as it crossed into western Tuscaloosa County, reducing a few homes to rubble. Then the tornado weakened to an EF3 as it trekked through rural portions of northern Tuscaloosa County, causing significant damage to the community of Samantha. As the tornado struck the small unincorporated community of Windham Springs, almost everything in the small town was obliterated. A high-end EF4 rating was applied there. The tornado did its most significant damage in northeastern Tuscaloosa County and southern Walker counties, where trees were debarked, ground scouring occured, there was significant wind-rowing of debris, and numerous homes were swept clean of their foundations with a bare slab remaining. In one instance in southern Walker County, half of a slab was missing. Surveyors applied an EF5 rating to locations with such damage. All 20 deaths occured in those areas (northeast Tuscaloosa County/southern Walker County). The tornado rapidly weakened as is crossed south of Sumiton and impacted West Jefferson at EF1 strength, before dissipating moments after. It left a scar visible from space on the ground. It had a maximum width of 1.25 miles and cost and estimated $1.1 billion. (2019 USD).
EF2	Guin to 6 miles E of Brilliant	Marion	1400	14.9 mi (24 km)	1 death - Tornado touched down in Guin and began to track east-northeast through Marion County. The rating is disputed as several homes outside of Brilliant had what appeared to be EF3 damage, but NWS Surveyors held off because the structures impacted were determined to be not built properly. One person was killed when they were trying to outrun the tornado by car, but they were struck and thrown out of the vehicle.
EF4	Brent/Centreville	Hale, Bibb, Shelby	2203	53 mi (85 km)	8 Deaths - At 6:03 PM CDT on April 29, a tornado touched down in northeastern Hale County in central Alabama. At first it produced minor damage to a few homes and outbuildings, but the tornado strengthened to EF2 strength as it crossed into Bibb County, where several homes in the southwestern part of the county sustained significant roof damage. As the tornado moved northeast it intensified to a high-end EF4 tornado with estimated winds of 190 mph, and then slammed the cities of Brent and Centreville, causing extreme damgage to the cities. Numerous homes where flattened and in a few instances were almost swept of their foundations. Eight deaths occured in the cities. The tornado remained an EF3 tornado as is went into northeast Bibb County, striking mostly rural areas, where numerous trees were snapped and debarked. The tornado weakened and would continue that trend as it entered Shelby county and did mostly minor damage to businesses in the southwestern portion of the county. The tornado dissipated at 7:10 PM CDT in central Shelby county, but left millions in damage.

April 30 event

List of notable tornadoes - April 30, 2019
F#	Location	County	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Georgia
EF3	Centralhatchee	Heard	0445	15.7 mi (25 km)	7 Deaths - A relatively short lived yet intense tornado struck Heard County, Georgia, early in the early morning hours of April 30 causing significant damage to the community of Centralhatchee. Seven people died as a result of the tornado, primarily due to the fact of the time it hit. The tornado was embedded in a linear MCS, so after the tornado struck, powerful straight line winds, heavy rain, and dangerous lighting made the situation even more dangerous, even after the tornado had passed