Early January Severe Event
January 9th, 2022
Summary of all Local Storm Reports (LSRs) on January 9th, as well as all the LSRs across the region for this event.
Storm survey teams preliminarily concluded that there were 2 EF-0 tornadoes in our forecast area during the severe event. Both tornadoes were spawned by the same parent storm as it moved across parts of Conecuh County into Butler County in Alabama. An additional swath of damaging winds received updates based on high-resolution satellite imagery in Butler County, AL.
The data provided on this page are considered preliminary as we continue to analyze all available data. We will add more information to this page and social media as it becomes available. We thank you in advance for your patience.
----- IMPORTANT 2023 UPDATE -----
Significant updates were made to several tornado tracks and wind swaths impacting the NWS Mobile/Pensacola area in the 2018 to 2023 timeframe thanks to the introduction of high-resolution Sentinel, Worldview, and Planet satellite imagery. One or multiple tornado tracks/wind swaths listed on this event webpage were updated in 2023.
An updated graphic and details surrounding these significant updates can be found further down on this webpage in the section for that specific tornado track or wind swath. More information on this Local Tornado Reanalysis Project and a list of all updates can be found on our webpage at weather.gov/mob/TornadoReanalysis or the National Damage Viewer.
Here is a list of the significant updates:
1. January 9, 2022 - Updated Tornado - Butler County, AL: Upgraded this tornado from an EF0 tornado to an EF1 tornado based on multiple uprooted trees noted on Worldview satellite imagery. This tornado occurred in a wooded area that could not be accessed by survey teams. The ending point was adjusted based on satellite imagery as the tornado occluded to the north prior to reaching Garden Rd.
2. January 9, 2022 - Updated Damaging Wind Swath - Butler County, AL: A powerful damaging wind swath with winds upwards of 100mph occurred in the vicinity of Ridge Road on January 9th, 2022. Initially few uproots on the western end of the damage swath with winds around 80mph quickly grew as the downburst continued eastward, expanding in size and intensity. Winds increased to near 100mph across the rest of the swath along and to the east of Ridge Road. The damaging wind swath was updated based on high-resolution satellite imagery.
Conecuh County, AL Tornado
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 804 PM CST MON JAN 10 2022 ...NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR 01/09/22 SEVERE WEATHER EVENT... .OVERVIEW...STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT SUNDAY, PRODUCING LARGE HAIL, A COUPLE OF TORNADOES, AND ISOLATED STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE. TWO EF-0 TORNADOES WERE IDENTIFIED BY A NWS SURVEY TEAM IN CONECUH AND BUTLER COUNTIES. IN ADDITION, A SIGNIFICANT SWATH OF STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE WAS SURVEYED IN FAR NORTHWEST BUTLER COUNTY. .OWASSA, AL TORNADO... RATING: EF0 ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 75 MPH PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 2.3 MILES PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 25 YARDS FATALITIES: 0 INJURIES: 0 START DATE: 01/09/2022 START TIME: 04:47 PM CST START LOCATION: 1 NNE OWASSA / CONECUH COUNTY / AL START LAT/LON: 31.5063 / -86.9244 END DATE: 01/09/2022 END TIME: 04:53 PM CST END LOCATION: 1 W WILCOX / CONECUH COUNTY / AL END LAT/LON: 31.5085 / -86.8861 SURVEY SUMMARY: THE TORNADO FIRST TOUCHED DOWN ON THE WEST SIDE OF I-65 AT THE OWASSA EXIT AND CROSSED THE INTERSTATE. THE ONLY DAMAGE NOTED IN THE AREA WAS TO SOME FENCING ON THE WEST SIDE OF I-65, HOWEVER, SURVEILLANCE VIDEO FROM A NEARBY GAS STATION SHOWED A VERY NARROW FUNNEL IN CONTACT WITH THE GROUND THAT MOVED ACROSS THE INTERSTATE BEFORE BRIEFLY LIFTING. THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN AGAIN ON WILCOX RD, PRODUCING MINOR TREE DAMAGE AND DAMAGING A TIN ROOF ON A NEARBY STRUCTURE. IT IS POSSIBLE THE TORNADO PRODUCED SPORADIC MINOR DAMAGE BETWEEN THE INTERSTATE AND THIS FINAL POINT. EF SCALE: THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES. EF0...WEAK......65 TO 85 MPH EF1...WEAK......86 TO 110 MPH EF2...STRONG....111 TO 135 MPH EF3...STRONG....136 TO 165 MPH EF4...VIOLENT...166 TO 200 MPH EF5...VIOLENT...>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.
Butler County, AL Tornado
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 804 PM CST MON JAN 10 2022 ...NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR 01/09/22 SEVERE WEATHER EVENT... .OVERVIEW...STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT SUNDAY, PRODUCING LARGE HAIL, A COUPLE OF TORNADOES, AND ISOLATED STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE. TWO EF-0 TORNADOES WERE IDENTIFIED BY A NWS SURVEY TEAM IN CONECUH AND BUTLER COUNTIES. IN ADDITION, A SIGNIFICANT SWATH OF STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE WAS SURVEYED IN FAR NORTHWEST BUTLER COUNTY.
.MCKENZIE, AL TORNADO... RATING: EF0 ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 75 MPH PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 1 MILE PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 25.0 YARDS FATALITIES: 0 INJURIES: 0 START DATE: 01/09/2022 START TIME: 05:20 PM CST START LOCATION: 1 SE MCKENZIE / BUTLER COUNTY / AL START LAT/LON: 31.5312 / -86.7063 END DATE: 01/09/2022 END TIME: 05:23 PM CST END LOCATION: 2 ESE MCKENZIE / BUTLER COUNTY / AL END LAT/LON: 31.5342 / -86.6897 SURVEY SUMMARY: THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN AT HAYES ROAD AND ARMSTRONG ROAD (COUNTY ROAD 36), PRODUCING SPORADIC TREE DAMAGE. A SHED AT A RESIDENCE WAS DESTROYED. THE TORNADO CONTINUED ON ITS INTERMITTENT TRACK, PRODUCING ADDITIONAL DAMAGE ON GARDEN ROAD (COUNTY ROAD 35). DAMAGE WAS CONFINED TO SOME TREE DAMAGE WITH A DOWNED POWER LINE. A MOBILE HOME SUFFERED VERY MINOR DAMAGE. THE TORNADO APPEARS TO HAVE LIFTED JUST EAST OF GARDEN ROAD, BUT AREAS TO THE EAST WERE NOT ACCESSIBLE. EF SCALE: THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES. EF0...WEAK......65 TO 85 MPH EF1...WEAK......86 TO 110 MPH EF2...STRONG....111 TO 135 MPH EF3...STRONG....136 TO 165 MPH EF4...VIOLENT...166 TO 200 MPH EF5...VIOLENT...>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.
Northwest Butler County, AL Straight-Line Wind Event
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 804 PM CST MON JAN 10 2022 ...NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR 01/09/22 SEVERE WEATHER EVENT... .OVERVIEW...STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT SUNDAY, PRODUCING LARGE HAIL, A COUPLE OF TORNADOES, AND ISOLATED STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE. TWO EF-0 TORNADOES WERE IDENTIFIED BY A NWS SURVEY TEAM IN CONECUH AND BUTLER COUNTIES. IN ADDITION, A SIGNIFICANT SWATH OF STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE WAS SURVEYED IN FAR NORTHWEST BUTLER COUNTY.
.NORTHWEST BUTLER COUNTY AL STRAIGHT LINE WINDS... SIGNIFICANT TREE DAMAGE OCCURRED IN A SWATH ALONG RIDGE ROAD IN EXTREME NORTHWEST BUTLER COUNTY, NORTH OF FOREST HOME. NO CONVERGENT TORNADO TRACK COULD BE IDENTIFIED WITH ALL TREE DAMAGE ALIGNED IN ONE DIRECTION. NUMEROUS TREES WERE SNAPPED AND UPROOTED. BASED OFF OF THE EXTENT OF THE TREE DAMAGE IN THIS AREA, WINDS ARE ESTIMATED TO HAVE REACHED UP TO 100 MPH. EF SCALE: THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES. EF0...WEAK......65 TO 85 MPH EF1...WEAK......86 TO 110 MPH EF2...STRONG....111 TO 135 MPH EF3...STRONG....136 TO 165 MPH EF4...VIOLENT...166 TO 200 MPH EF5...VIOLENT...>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.
The photo below shows the extent of the tree damage due to the straight-line wind in northwest Butler County, AL.
Additional Information
SPC Storm Report Archive
NWS Local Write-Ups and Webpages:
NWS Birmingham
Acknowledgements: Page created by Morgan Barry (Forecaster). Page updated by Caitlin Baldwin and Michael Mugrage (Forecaster).
LAST UPDATED: March 2024
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