April 8, 1998: Alabama CAP Assesses Damage after F-5 Tornado

On this date in 1998, following powerful F-5 tornado in Alabama, the Alabama Civil Air Patrol assisted with aerial missions to assess the damage.

An excerpt from NOAA:

Aerial surveys conducted by the National Weather Service with the help of the Alabama State Troopers Aviation Unit and the Civil Air Patrol determined that the tornado that ripped across west Jefferson County Wednesday night, April 8 ^th was an F5 tornado, the most violent tornado that occurs. F5 tornadoes have winds in excess of 260 miles per hour. The F5 tornado is highest rating for the most violent tornado. The Fujita Scale runs from F0 for the weakest to F5 for the most intense.

The tornado track (map of tornado track, size about 236 kb) was approximately 30.6 miles long and at it's widest point was half a mile wide. After first touching down on the east side of the Warrior River in Tuscaloosa County, the tornado crossed into Jefferson County at 7:52 pm moving just south of the town of Scrap, just inside Jefferson County. It traveled east-northeast impacting Oak Grove, Concord, Pleasant Grove, Edgewater, McDonald's Chapel areas before ending in Pratt City. The storm reached it's strongest intensity producing F5 damage in the Concord area and the McDonalds Chapel/Edgewater area.

---
Want to learn more or join the Civil Air Patrol? Browse http://gocivilairpatrol.com

Sphere: Related Content