HUGE Hackleburg Tornado, April 27, 2011, EF-5 at Athens / Madison

[kentgb65]

Very impressive video

[TheTaintedPsyche]

Man thank God you were fine...this stuff is scary. :(

[ffjsb]

That's actually the Wall Cloud not the Tornado itself. The "streamers" is moisture condensing as it's pulled into the rotating updraft. Good vid though.

[guitarazor]

Hey guys i live in bedford county tennessee. This cell was headed northeast straight for me. we got the tornado warning at 2:51 p.m. 04-27-11. I mowed my yard the day before the outbreak and when i checked out in my yard for debri i found a thin piece of a telephone pole about 5 1/2 inches long with mud caked up on it. Nothing else was in my yard. I live on a main highway and there was even no litter. If you want to see it I can make the video for it. I still have it in a ziplok bag with dirt.

[ravpan06]

That's just insane!

[badassedgar]

never in my life did i know that i tornado could be that wide ! Than God it did not hit russellville alabama

[WYVYRN527]

That is one monster of a tornado! Probably some of the best video shot of this particular storm.

[coffinman82]

holy crap did you dodge a bullet.... wow

[poodinkydingbat1]

that CG is off the charts!!

[rjkee52403]

@poodinkydingbat1 ...  ? ....

[poodinkydingbat1]

@rjkee52403 Cloud to ground lightning... it's amazing!

[97lamborghini]

@rjkee52403 CG means cloud-to-ground lightning, i think

[PootStip]

Nice vid, but I think what you call "streamers of water" being pulled up from the Tennessee River is really the wall cloud. But this video does do a very good job of illustrating the size of the thing.

[boltp777]

holy shit look at that inflow

[nick06111226]

210MPH is F4 or EF5 depends on what scale you use info from

wunderground(dot)com/resources­/severe/fujita_scale.asp

[bigJ09z]

@nick06111226 I think NOAA just guesses what the wind speeds are really this thing had to have winds above 210 mph. Looking at the damage track it looks more like 250 or 289 as things are just whipped away.

[StLouisStormSpotter]

@nick06111226 They use the Enhanced Fujita Scale now. Winds 200 mph + is considered an EF-5.

[nick06111226]

@StLouisStormSpotter go to the website pick what one YOU like BETTER

[StLouisStormSpotter]

@nick06111226 Woah calm down bro.

[nick06111226]

@StLouisStormSpotter just asking which you like better

[ferrarimike23]

I grew up in Joplin

Btw how long did you know it was coming before you got out the video cam

Because I wouldve been out of town

And on radar it probably looked like it was coming right at you before you relized it was going to miss you

[ns611lawrence]

@ferrarimike23 May 3rd 1999 Oklahoma City was a mile-wide. This one was 1 1/2 miles across in Tuscaloosa Alabama

[rjkee52403]

@ns611lawrence According to the map. the tuscaloosa tornado was classified an EF-4 with 190 mph winds and was 1.5miles wide. This hackelburg tornado was a different tornado, an EF-5 with 210 mph winds and 3/4 mile wide.

[ferrarimike23]

Fcfdladder22

The Moore ok tornado wasn't even a mile wide . It was 3/4 of a mile

It just had the highest wind speed ever

[rjkee52403]

@ferrarimike23 I have to correct myself. this EF-5 was 3/4 mile wide with 210 mph winds.

[ferrarimike23]

It's almost disturbing how quiet you 2 were the whole time this once in a life time mile wide tornado passed behind you lol

[rjkee52403]

@ferrarimike23 I actually overlaid most of our dumb comments with wind noise taken from the same video. We actually were pretty calm, but at one point when it was coming towards us, and I didn't know which way it was headed, i asked "at what point do I put down the camera and go hide?" LOL

[XDroadrunner]

i live in oneonta AL a tornado almost hit us at around 9:30pm that day it dissipated shortly before it hit us thank god we got lucky that day

[GroceryGame1981]

more neighborhood storm shelters needed

[waynebrasler]

A tornado buff since one hit the St. Louis airport in 1950 (after chunks of ice fell from the sky and at the time tornado warnings were not allowed) and this is one of the best videos I've ever seen. One for the Hall of Fame.

[MrGSWAGG92]

No tornado sirens?

[rjkee52403]

@MrGSWAGG92 This tornado went through all four major connections between Browns Ferry power plant and the Huntsville area. I do not know if the tornado sirens are powered like that or if we could just not hear them over the noise outside.

[986tornado]

this is what you call great weather . i will take storms over sunshine eny day. cant whait unit may. i keep counting dowm the days. winter sucks. thank god i live in the southern part of canada. at least we get shoters winters then the rest of the country and the longest tornado and thunderstorm season. i hop we have eh active year for storms in north america . that whould be right up my ally. great video by the way.

[bigJ09z]

@986tornado If I remember correctly this monster had winds about 298 mph or something like that.

[rjkee52403]

@bigJ09z according to srh.noaa.gov/bmx/?n=event_0427­2011 it was 210mph.

[bigJ09z]

@rjkee52403 Well the thing is a beast its one of the biggest tornadoes ive ever seen great video by the way. I don't really trust guesses of how many mph it was which is what NOAA does I guess they thought the Joplin tornado had winds well over 225 mph.

[GettinRadOverHere]

Great video!!! Talk about a meso on the ground!!!!!

[guitarest452452]

Very beautiful...

I don't blame you for taking your eyes of the camera...

I would have done the same...

I've done the same actually lol

[MNScreaminEagle]

I was just looking through the different videos of tornadoes and came across yours. Gives me the chills just looking at this. Must have been pretty scary, this monster being so close to your neighborhood. Glad to see no one got hurt.... especially those horses running around in the back.

[ATamandua]

At the 4:30 mark...there's a video with a view very much like this made by a trucker trying out his new camera driving on I-44 West (May 22, 2011) unaware he was heading right into the Joplin tornado...

[Relleq]

@ATamandua Where may I find it, or do you know the title?

[ATamandua]

@Relleq Hi, Relleq, the video is just called "joplin tornado" but it was shot by "MrEmir270".

[Relleq]

@ATamandua Found it...thank you and absolutely insane...probably the closest video of that tornado taken from a survivor.

[skywarnjlw3]

What a monster..

[fcfdladder22]

@rjkee52403 1.5 holy shit thats almost as big as the moore, OK tornado in 1999

[rjkee52403]

@fcfdladder22 correction: according to NOAA (srh.noaa.gov/bmx/?n=event_042­72011) it was 3/4 mile wide.

[cape6000jkg]

I don't hear any sirens in your video. Aren't there any in your area? They are badly needed.

[rjkee52403]

@cape6000jkg I need one closer. The closest one is about a mile away. however, this tornado took out all the major power lines from the huntsville browns ferry electric plant, and the whole area was without power for like 5 days.

[Auburngal03]

@rjkee52403 Yeah the guntersville and Arab tornadoes took out the TVA lines which was the main power source for Huntsville.

[shellito1012]

Hi, I was just wondering where this was filmed (a local point of interest that is nearby)? I live off Lindsday Lane by Publix and it passed a few miles south of our house (at I-65 and the new exit by Brownsferry). Just trying to get a fix on your vantage point. Crazy day for us, eh?

[rjkee52403]

@shellito1012 one point two miles south of Bethel church of Christ, east of Mooresville Road.

[StormChaseDotTV]

What a monster. Sends chills up and down my spine knowing what that tornado is doing. Terrifying. Good video.

[1979audiman]

classic wedge tornado. worst day in alabamas history

[KCspur92]

Multi-vortex tornado with hurricane force winds. Yikes!

[voyager202000]

This was a monster, thank God that this thing didn't shift it's track and headed towards you and your community. Glad you're okay and great footage. 2.5 miles with a demon this big is still too close in my book!

[wwejheaton]

was it rain wrapped?

[shellito1012]

@wwejheaton Yes and with our sirens not working properly, it made it even that much more dangerous.

[wwejheaton]

@shellito1012 thats scary

[fcfdladder22]

how wide was it anyone know

[Bamabarrett]

@fcfdladder22 50,000 miles wide...with wind 800 mph + ..supersonic speed.

[rjkee52403]

@Bamabarrett nice. troll.

[gururussell]

Seeing this video and seeing first hand the destruction it caused in Hackleburg and in East Limestone just makes it all the more real. I couldn't fathom what is was like when it came through Hackleburg until I saw this. I am just that more awestruck and feel so humble.

[HuskerIsNumberOne]

I didn't hear any tornado sirens. 

[soundadvice2k]

@HuskerIsNumberOne Seems like the sirens go off after the damage is done.

[shellito1012]

@soundadvice2k Our sirens were either damaged (by the other tornados that hit our area) earlier in the day or power was out to the sirens. I can't remember now clearly, I just remembered that we couldn't rely on the sirens.

[djkuralt]

Living in Utah, I never see weather like this. You have added some text commentary to this video since I last watched it. I thought the tornado was difficult to see until you pointed out the features. If I had been there, I would not have known what I was looking at. It's a terrifying thought that a person could be looking right at a tornado and never see it coming.

[seekingelite]

Great video

[bigVTguy91]

I'm supried that the tornado was that close to you. I would have been very scared.

[gravyman1965]

This one missed my home by about 1/4 mile. I live in the Harvest area and I had debris from Smithville, MS and Phil campbell in my yard. Terrible day. I was trying to get home to my family and had to turn back. That was a cold hard feeling I do not care to come remotely close to feeling again.

[kdolo100]

At 5:38 the right caption is not pointing to the right side of the funnel. It is noting the right side of the wall cloud.

[omgthisiscrazy1]

The lightning from this storm is incredible.

[Daymack]

WOW thanks! that's one of the most impressive tornado video I've ever seen! glad you guys are ok :)

i'm from the Netherlands and we've seen this tornado last summer: watch?v=Eg0NpcGHFOI

[Denali2010on30s]

holy shit!

[dpo745s]

excellent video



[TXweatherwatcher]

Not what you hope to see near your home! Thanks for sharing some great video!

[reymatt76]

Camera down, down, down. That's it. Keep it so we can see the ground. Don't point it in the air. Down, c'mon...

[rjkee52403]

@reymatt76 The problem was, I was looking at the storm, not the camera. Every time I glanced at the camera it had drifted up! Ha!

[jjvowels]

Awesome footage. Glad your ok.

[rjkee52403]

@jjvowels Thank you! I was pretty worried when I first on the news that it was headed my way. When I went outside, I realized that it would go north of me, so I was happy!

[ianat841]

My god, it's so massive that when you change shots around 5:22, It took me a while to realize that it's taking up the entire frame of your video camera. Once I the power flashes started, I realized it. Also, there's quite a lightning show with this storm.

[PelicanGuy]

Goodness gracious! That tornado was huge! I'm glad it missed your home. Great video.

[JuliannaMKH]

It's just surreal. The strobing lightning. The cloud - I keep looking and looking thinking, where? where? and then I realize that what you're filming, what we're seeing *is* the tornado. Just wow.

[armarey12000]

my 11 year old brother was in the dentist during the tornado he saw the afther math of the outbrak inthe mcdonald's TV?

[ncheel231976]

On a side note... Wow, those storms were moving super fasssst!

[TheMightykaz]

@ncheel231976 This TORNADO reached speeds of up to 78 miles per hour.

[ncheel231976]

Absolutely fascinating! Outstanding job of getting the entire storm. Kudos to rjkee52403 for this outstanding video!

[WickedTornado]

I'm a hard core storm chaser who chases the midwest for a month each yr. This is one of THE BEST vids of this event, imo. Why? Because even tho it's not the typical close up of the funnel, and those are certainly fascinating...this shows the entire event from a homeowner's perspective. It shows it coming, during and going away. Very little talking (a relief), it shows the ambient sounds, winds (or not), precip, and what the surrounding clouds looked like. Thank you for a great video of this.

[Barderella]

this is amazing footage of the tornado...i absolutely cannot tear my eyes away from the structure...very good panning and of showing the rotation and inflow. awesome.

[LOLitsatoaster]

This is amazing !!

[DisturbedFrankeh]

All of that white condensation-like clouds above the funnel... is THAT whole thing it's tail cloud? If so, I've never in my life seen such a pronounced and large tail cloud of that size... holy shit.

[ChaseSevereWeather]

Great video! Love the panoramic view of the structure.

[ruleta74835]

Sometimes the more distant view of a tornado is just as interesting as the close-up videos showing debris flying past the camera. I like seeing the structure of the storm as it approaches and passes....in this case it's very dramatic.

[sallie62]

Great video. Thanks for sharing.

[boomersoonergal21]

i sat in my schools hallway upstairs for 4 1/2 hours while this tornado came right for us. the administrators knew it was coming but didnt tell us. they literally saw it come straight up off the ground and go over my school, then touch back down behind the school. that right there is the power of GOD

[Familyguy098]

Around 3:24 I would literally have a panic attack.

[EquusStorm]

Watching this at 3x speed is truly frightening - the rotation becomes clearly and disturbingly clear. A monster tornado indeed, in every way.

[ATamandua]

Of that day's outbreak, at times this looks closest in appearance to the heavily rain-wrapped Joplin mile-wide, F5 tornado, though I don't think it was quite as 'photogenic". Did you think that this was headed right for your house? I would have suspected it, but you were calm. 1:22 (the ground inflow) and 2:11 (where the "t" makes it appearance but where clouds seem to be reaching for the stratosphere at upper stage right) are amazing, as is the "light show" this thing put on.

[MrGSWAGG92]

DAAAAAMN THIS IS ONE HUGE TWISTER

[seekingelite]

This video is golden! Take it from someone who has seen like 100000 tornado videos. .

[Super314159265358]

STOPPING  A TORNADO -- You Tube video ----. Preventing a tornado from touching the ground. I made this video because i survived a tornado in 1998. In Dec. 2006 i came up with a theroy on how to PREVENT a tornado from touching the ground

[colorfulwolf1]

WOW what kind is it? ef1? ef2? ef3? ef4? ef5? DX i had a EF3 tornado sept 16 2010 i had 2 of em but we got throu it i got really SCARY. But did you see the stop sing move XD funny but my reaction is INCREDIBLE so right back what kind it was bye :)

[CheeStaysFly]

@colorfulwolf1 It was an EF5!

[colorfulwolf1]

@CheeStaysFly k gosh

[nasserology]

if you see the green colour of the clouds that means that there is a large hail . I witnessed this many times .

[iascoinc]

Around 3:50 it looks like there might be a storm in the distance

[MyRandomVideos42711]

dis 1 got us completly leveled our home

[boomersoonergal21]

this tornado missed my house by half a mile :O

[ChristopherSaindon]

This really IS excellent video :-) GREAT job! The green by the way is usually a sign of some big hail. Look at the low cloud base in Alabama on the view looking straight down the street.

[yourmusicguru]

that crap aint holy :P

[yourmusicguru]

it looks like the clouds are forming a shovel and scooping everything up and throwing it to tennessee

[yourmusicguru]

1 minute mark, the clouds are turning green...

something i think we all saw that day

[heatherdumas]

OMG, man, that is a NICE video! I live out in Toney, about a mile down from where it hit the Wall Triana & Old RR Bed areas. We could see it go by and hear that same noise that's in the video. This is probably the best wide-shot video of the tornado I've seen. It's like you can see the whole storm and tornado wrapped together. Seriously, creepy as hell to watch how massive it is, but really nice video!

[bigbama34]

Excellent video.

[Knohltorious]

Thank you for sharing. Where were you filming from? Oh, are you filming from a subdivision off Gray Rd? I recognize that house on the diagonal on Newby. We live in Legacy Grove, just a 1/4 mile south of that storm on Mooresville Rd. The East Limestone, AL Tormado OMG!... video was shot at the same time as this video was from our neighborhood.

[Knohltorious]

Thank you for sharing. Where were you filming from?

[WC7495]

The structure on this storm is absolutely nutty. So unreal. Thank you much for sharing!

[1wright1]

woops... april

[1wright1]

april 27th? 2011... today is the 25th

[drakejoseph25]

@1wright1 yep it's may buddy -_-

[Tide12NC]

What a day. I live in Warrior, 20 min. south of Cullman on 65. We got hit that morning around 5:54. We were trying to clean up and help others, little did we know just how big the tornados would be that afternoon. After seeing the damage left from the larger tornados you just can't help filling thankful for your minor damage. I still thank everyone from all over for there help. We now need to add Joplin MO. to our prayers. Listen to Rascal Flatts song (I want let go) it fits. Man that was big.

[sigmiami]

Wow scary stuff, hope to never see one up close and I pray for those affected...

[mikeyzx2]

it's amazing how large that tornado was. I got a glimpse of it from Monrovia when I was forced to wait it out after trying to head home down Old Railroad Bed Rd. I bet the roar from it was INSANE!

[aliusv2]

I rode this one out in Harvest, AL. I happened to have been on the fire truck on the way to a structure fire as it passed through my neighborhood.