National Weather Service Raw Text Product

571 
NOUS44 KHUN 292000
PNSHUN
ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-300800-

Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Huntsville AL
200 PM CST Sun Dec 29 2024


...NWS Damage Survey for 12/28/2024 Tornado Event...

.Athens Tornado...

Rating:                 EF1
Estimated Peak Wind:    100 mph
Path Length /statute/:  3.87 miles
Path Width /maximum/:   160 yards
Fatalities:             0
Injuries:               0

Start Date:             12/28/2024
Start Time:             11:15 PM CST
Start Location:         1 SW Athens / Limestone County / AL
Start Lat/Lon:          34.7753 / -86.9782

End Date:               12/28/2024
End Time:               11:20 PM CST
End Location:           3 NNW Athens / Limestone County / AL
End Lat/Lon:            34.8303 / -86.965

Survey Summary:
The tornado began by snapping a few large softwood branches on
Sanderfer Road just west of the intersection with Jefferson Street.
From there, the tornado skipped north/northeast, snapping several
larger hardwood trees just south of an apartment complex on
Southwind Drive. The tornado continued racing northward, snapping
softwood branches and a few trees on Commercial Drive, south of
Highway 72. The tornado produced its first building damage at the
KFC at this location, blowing a portion of the roof off and
strewing it across the highway and into the parking lot of the
Taco Bell across the street. From this point northward, the
tornado became more organized and strengthened as it zipped
northward into downtown Athens. Several power poles were snapped
along Madison Street as the tornado moved north/northeastward
along Jeffrey Street. Quite a few large soft and hardwood trees
were snapped and uprooted in this area as well, beginning the
EF1 damage portion of the path. Damage from this point in the
path onward garnered lots of media attention for the amount of
roof damage and debris strewn throughout the square near the
Courthouse in downtown Athens. Several roofs from buildings on
every side of the square had portions of their roof removed,
beginning with the roof completely torn off of the CEI Bookstore
at the intersection of Green Street and Marion Street. From
there, numerous other buildings downtown had at least some form
of roof damage, with debris strewn to the north/northeast one to
two blocks up, between the intersections of Washington and Market
Streets along Marion Street. Though the Limestone County
Courthouse thankfully didn't sustain any damage other than their
weathervane on the dome of the roof being bent, the very large
oak tree beside the staircase wasn't as fortunate; the 100-year
old tree was uprooted. From here, the tornado caused major damage
just north/northeast at the Veterans Memorial Park, downing iron
fencing and hurling a helicopter that was anchored to a metal
pole about 50-60 feet to the west. The worst-looking building
damage occurred just upstream of this location at the
intersection of Monroe and Pryor Streets, where an old warehouse
was completely destroyed. NWS Huntsville and Limestone EMA
representatives analyzed the foundation of the building and it
was determined that no anchor bolts were noted along the base of
the cinderblock walls with the exception of some rebar that was
found near where the overhead doors were located. For this
reason, higher than EF1 tornado damage was not noted at the site
or along any portion further in the path. Winds were the
strongest at 100mph and tornado width was at its widest of
160 yards at the destroyed warehouse location, with additional
roof damage that was seen via ground surveys and drone footage
that occurred and followed the train tracks moving
north/northeast. Several other businesses in this area had 20-50%
(at least) of their roofs destroyed or blown off, strewing tin
and debris upstream along the track as the tornado exited
downtown Athens to the north/northeast. Sporadic softwood trees
were snapped or uprooted from this point onward in the survey,
with the tornado finally roping out and snapping some large
branches on Wilkinson Street just southwest of Airport Road. 

Thanks to Limestone County EMA for their assistance with today's
survey. Drone footage provided to the survey team was beneficial
and increased confidence in damage indicators and their respective 
degrees of damage.

&&

EF Scale: The Enhanced Fujita Scale classifies tornadoes into the
following categories:

EF0.....65 to 85 mph
EF1.....86 to 110 mph
EF2.....111 to 135 mph
EF3.....136 to 165 mph
EF4.....166 to 200 mph
EF5.....>200 mph

NOTE:
The information in this statement is preliminary and subject to
change pending final review of the event and publication in
NWS Storm Data.

$$

AMIN