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Severe WX Sunday March 3 Severe Threat

buckeye05

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Eufaula is preliminary EF1.
That's for the initial spinup that began NW of town. They haven't reached the area of major damage at and around the airport and fire department, which may have been from a separate tornado that formed very quickly after the initial EF1, judging by what I saw on radar.
 

buckeye05

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I'm also not seeing the telltale mud-spattered scouring and widespread debarking characteristic of a EF5 in the videos I've seen thus far
My thoughts exactly. I've seen a few comparison to Phil Campbell made so far, but to me it just doesn't look nearly as intense. The scope of the damage is similar though.
 

Bamamuscle

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7d24bc7b2d3eada4e112ee18fe7d3fcc.jpg


Just saw this.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

buckeye05

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Well no surprise there. Judging by the pics, they haven't made it to that completely slabbed house yet. Winds peed estimate could still be adjusted upwards.
 

South AL Wx

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BMX MIC Chris Darden said the estimated path width of the Lee County tornado is 0.87 mile, so pretty close to a mile wide.
 

Equus

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Judging by the path width, perhaps it's a little less surprising that they found at least one EF4 DI. 180 might be a good final reasonable estimate.
 

buckeye05

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CNN just showed video of the house that BMX tweeted. It's the same one posted earlier with the anchor bolts. Part of the foundation was swept clean, but the initial photos didn't show the rubble pile that BMX photographed. So I was wrong about that. This could end up being the only point of EF4 damage found.
 

Equus

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Yeah never in my wildest dreams did I expect the violent tornado drought to end yesterday, that supercell was jaw dropping. The event reminds me so much of the 1994 Palm Sunday event for some reason.
 

Evan

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Ratings are based off evidence for the maximum intensity, correct? So if even one structure shows evidence of EF-4 level damage, then it's rated EF-4 even if every other indicator surveyed is below that level.

Correct. Whatever the maximum damage area gets rated is the official rating for the tornado. But, BMX and other offices normally will rate segments of the path differently and attach photos showing the variation in strength along the path.

It's very possible that some of the areas where the damage is confined to mobile homes or pre-manufactured housing will only get an EF-2 or EF-3 rating. But barring additional survey info, the tornado will go into the books as an EF-4.
 
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It was very much like Palm Sunday '94, only slightly further south and east. Also it didn't get going until later in the afternoon, whereas Palm Sunday had the infamous Goshen UMC F4 on the ground well before noon local time.
 

Evan

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Anyone seen any photographic evidence of really intense debarking and scouring yet? That's the one thing i'm not really seeing a ton of that would otherwise make me think this was a truly high-end event.

That's why I was thinking high-end EF-3 or 166 - 180 mph EF-4. The tree damage, scouring, etc isn't quite what you see in a high-end EF-4 or EF-5.

A couple of the vehicle pictures were potential indicators of higher end damage, but we don't have full details on the vehicles. E.G. where they were located, age, condition, and whether or not debris impacts contributed to their ultimate condition.

From what I've seen so far, 170mph EF-4 makes total sense.
 

Evan

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That is true, but in many rural parts of this state a good number of Hispanic folks tend to stick closely together in out of the way places like this area.

You are correct. From the information I've seen online, somehow the deceased child became separated from his family. In particular, his older brother was also injured and is being treated at UAB. Absolutely tragic.

Some of you here know this already, but I'm very much tied in with the Hispanic community in Alabama and its culture. The young boy who was killed reminds me a lot of one of my daughter's friends. I cannot imagine what that poor family is going through right now.
 

buckeye05

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Resident of the EF4 house above is being interviewed right now. She was inside with her mother and son when it it and they survived without major injury. Sounds like a terrifying experience.
 
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