A day of quiet after a stormy Thursday evening.

National Weather Service storm survey teams have been traveling the state looking at the damage from last night’s storms and so far they have 1 tornado.  It was an EF-1 that hit 2 miles NW of Samantha in north Tuscaloosa county at 3:43 pm Thursday.  Several dozen trees were snapped and uprooted. Winds were estimated at 85-95 mph.  The path length was remarkably short at only 0.579 miles.  Given the forward speeds of the storms yesterday, I would estimate this tornado was on the ground for only 45 seconds.  Another survey team found that the widespread wind damage in Lamar,Marion and Winston counties was the result of strong straight-line winds associated with a classic bow echo.  The winds were estimated at 50-70 mph. Among the reports was damage to 2 homes in Haleyville, as well as windows being blown out at Haleyville High School.  1 injury was reported when a tree fell on a mobile home…a woman had minor injuries.
With skies becoming clear it will get chilly tonight with temperatures sinking to the low 40’s.  Tomorrow will be a beautiful day with sunshine and highs in the middle 70’s. Saturday night will be dry, then the next storm approaches on Sunday bringing scattered thunderstorms, a few of which may be strong to severe during the afternoon or evening.
Unseasonably cold air follows Monday through Wednesday with a freeze likely, at least across the northern half of the area Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.