The last hour and a half for Tuscaloosa - April 27 2011 (Right before the Tornado)

This is some video I shot while chasing around the Tuscaloosa Alabama area on April 27 2011. This starts about an hour and a half before the large wedge destroyed a large section of Tuscaloosa, and leads up to moments before the tornado arrives in Tuscaloosa. I chose the title "The last hour and a half for Tuscaloosa", because this represents that last hour and a half before Tuscaloosa was changed forever....

Brief Overview.....

I first chased a cell near Coker AL, ended up going through Reform AL and produced a tornado in that area. I broke off of that cell due to lack of road options north. I wanted to stay close to I-59 as it runs north east throughout Alabama, and would be perfect to chase a cell running parallel on the north side of I-59. I left the first storm, and decided to go after 2 newly formed supercell's just crossing in AL from MS. They were looking like they would track along I-59, perfect to chase. They ended up merging when the rear storm overtook the lead storm. It them turned into a large supercell that produced a monster wedge tornado that won't be soon forgotten.

Near the end of this video, I was sitting in a parking lot talking to several Tuscaloosa police officers about the storm. I was watching a hook echo start to develop in the rear of the storm, indicating a possible tornado. A friend and fellow chaser, Ryan Rogers, was watching the radar and reports from back in NC. We were in communication all day, and he was assisting me with navigation and finding road options, as well as advice on storms. As I was talking to the police officers, I get a text from Ryan - "Large Wedge heading to you" My view to the southwest was partially obstructed by a large hill. I told the officers that a large confirmed tornado was moving up I-59 and would impacting Tuscaloosa in the next 10 minutes. They took off to try and warn as many people as they could. I sat there a few more minutes waiting to see if the tornado would come into view. I decided to follow Ryan's advice and drop south a half mile. I still didn't have a visual, and was concerned the tornado may end up coming directly over the hill, in which case I would have been cut off from my escape option. About 3 minutes after this video ends, my other video starts. The tornado coming into Tuscaloosa and destroying it.....

Check out my video of the tornado as well on here.

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[skipke2020]

@AxisOrtiz He might have helped save some lives if you could read his story.

[RebelYank]

Excellent video showing the lead up to the storm. I was positioned in downtown Tuscaloosa and had a VERY good view of the storm as it passed to my south.

[Wario6451]

What radar system do you have there? 

[weda0604]

I like the before the storm shots.  Always makes for an interesting documentary.

[tylerofdenmark]

@carnivalwrkr2005 Every siren I've heard in Alabama has been the wail tone. It's quite the haunting sound. It's sickening to hear them now.

[jwhite1663]

I cant even imagine what your families are going through. my thoughts are with you all.  We live in Dayton, TN and my video shows the devastation that happened there in the mountains...

[jonnyb4u]

@AxisOrtiz SO!!!

[Zoomer30]

I noted that as well, the air raid mode was odd.

[carnivalwrkr2005]

I noticed the tornado sirens in wail/attack tone. Most jurisdictions use the Alert/Steady tone for tornado warnings.