The Harpersville Tornado…January 24, 1964

There was no warning. Little lightning and thunder. People in Shelby County, Alabama paid little attention to the thunderstorm that rolled in around 7 p.m. Suddenly, a funnel dipped from the thundercloud just to the southwest of Harpersville. It roared northeast, heavily damaging the southeastern part of the community about 30 miles southeast of Birmingham on highway 280.

It was only on the ground for three miles, and its path width was never more than with width of a football field. But it directly struck three homes on US-280. One was blown 100 yards into another home, where it was smashed to pieces.

The Tornado Project rates the damage produced by the twister as F3. A total of ten people in the three homes were killed. Six people were injured.

The Shelby County Reporter would note that the storms were being monitored by the Weather Bureau radar from Birmingham, but they didn’t look strong. They were probably the low topped supercell variety that we see so often in the winter.

Just a reminder that when it comes to thunderstorms, expect the unexpected.

– Bill Murray

bill.murray@theweathercompany.com
Follow my weather history tweets on Twitter. I am wxhistorian.

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