Tornadoes, Flash Flooding Impacted South, East to Start February

Quincy Vagell
Published: February 3,2016




 
Following the Groundhog Day tornadoes in the Deep South, the threat of severe thunderstorms and flash flooding shifted east Wednesday.
(MORE: The Great Northeast Meltdown -> Flood Threat)
Virtually all the tornado reports on Tuesday were from the same supercell thunderstorm over a time period of 2-3 hours from eastern Mississippi into far northwest Alabama. National Weather Service damage surveys will confirm the actual number of tornadoes.
One survey by the NWS-Birmingham, Alabama, office concluded an EF2 tornado struck the north side of McMullen, Alabama, Tuesday night, destroying 13 homes, 10 of which were manufactured homes.
(MORE: Damage Reported in Mississippi and Alabama)

Storm Reports 

As of Wednesday night, a total of 12 reports of tornadoes were received by local NWS offices and the Storm Prediction Center. All of the reports on Tuesday were in either eastern Mississippi or far western Alabama. On Wednesday one tornado was reported in southeastern Georgia and one south of Columbia, South Carolina.

A "wedge" (meteorologist jargon for a wide tornado) was observed near the towns of Aliceville and Carrollton, Alabama Tuesday evening.
Storm chaser and weather.com digital meteorologist, Quincy Vagell, tracked a tornado near the town of Scooba, Mississippi, snapping trees. This tornado was rated EF2 by a survey conducted by the NWS on Wednesday.

A tornado confirmed by radar produced structural damage in the town of Prismatic, about 20 miles north-northwest of Meridian, Mississippi.
Structural damage to a church and several barns was reported in Collinsvile, Mississippi from the same supercell responsible for downing trees, power poles and damaging homes south of Newton, Mississippi, by a tornado confirmed by Doppler radar just before 3 p.m. CST, according to the National Weather Service and Mississippi Highway Patrol.
Many of these tornado reports were from the same supercell thunderstorm in eastern Mississippi. Later National Weather Service damage surveys will confirm whether it was one long-track, or several individual tornadoes.
Later Tuesday night, an EF1 tornado blew a roof off a house in Beaverton, Alabama.
Interestingly enough, severe weather was, overall, very limited. Just over 50 reports of severe weather were received by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center and the National Weather Service from Tuesday.
Heavy rain triggered local flash flooding in parts of the southern Appalachians Wednesday. Several streets were flooded in Asheville, North Carolina. Water rescues were required near Boone, North Carolina, Bon Aqua, Tennessee, and Ashland, Tennessee. Roads were also closed due to flooding in portions of northern Virginia and Maryland Wednesday evening.

Tuesday night, flash flooding was reported from Indiana and Illinois into Mississippi and Alabama. Tuesday night, four to five homes were being evacuated in Star, Mississippi due to flooding. At least four cars were stuck in flood waters Tuesday evening in Evansville, Indiana.
On Sunday afternoon, as low pressure moved into Southern California a couple of trees were downed west of Santa Paula, California which trapped six vehicles due to wind gusts during a thunderstorm.
A tree also came down near Burbank across highway 134, which blocked a three to four lanes of the freeway.
Non-thunderstorm winds also caused damaged across Southern California and one death was reported due to a falling tree.
Near Santa Barbara, California flash flooding with mud and rocks across highway 154 was reported.
(MORE: Latest Severe Weather Impacts)

A Rare Early Risk Area

This prompted the Storm Prediction Center to issue a rare day 7 outlook Wednesday for the Groundhog Day severe potential. This is done only in cases where there is relatively high confidence that far out in time of organized severe thunderstorms, or concern for an outbreak.
According to Dr. Patrick Marsh of the National Severe Storms Laboratory, the last time the SPC highlighted a severe risk area on day 7 was July 14, 2013. It's only the 11th time that has been done since late April 2008.
National Weather Service meteorologist Taylor Trogdon compiled all previous cases since 2008 when the SPC outlined a severe risk area in their day 7 outlook.
An outbreak often, but not always, results, with some cases featuring a swarm of tornadoes, while others feature few tornadoes.

The Storm Prediction Center later issued a 30 percent day 5 outlook on Friday for the potential severe weather outbreak. This is the highest-tier outlook that can be issued so far out, further suggesting that there is high confidence in severe weather on Tuesday.

PHOTOS: Southern Tornadoes Feb. 2-3, 2016