SPC Stats
Path length: 1.5 miles
Width: 120 yards
Fatalities: 0
Injuries: 14
Rating: F3
County: Dale
For the second day in a row, Fort Rucker, AL was hit by a tornado. The first time occurred at 425pm CT on December 29, 1973. It “skipped” east-northeast from Enterprise to Ft. Rucker. Most of the damage was in Enterprise. Eight homes were destroyed here. Several residences at Ft. Rucker had light damage. A tank storage park was hit. The rating was F3. Estimated damage of $10-15 thousand dollars at Ft. Rucker.
The second tornado which occurred just before 5pm CT on December 30, 1973 caused greater damage to Ft. Rucker than the one the day before. Damage exceeded one million dollars. There was significant damage to 30 buildings and houses. Five were completely destroyed. Four mobile homes were destroyed at Ozark. There were 23 minor injuries at Ft. Rucker.
Tornado Path
SPC coordinates: Start: 31.45 / -85.65
Corrected coordinates based on Storm Data:
Start: 31.340298/-85.720704 End: 31.406017/-85.659404
Note: Exact tornado path may not be straight and/or continuous.
Newspaper Clippings
Discrepancies:
We gathered information for this event from the SPC & NCDC Databases, the December 1973 Storm Data Narrative and Thomas Grazulis in Significant Tornadoes and found the following differences:
Width:
- SPC/NCDC have a 120 yard width.
- Grazulis has a 125 yard width.
- Storm Data lists a range of 199-150 yards.
Injury County:
- SPC/NCDC list 14 injuries.
- Grazulis/Storm Data have 23 injuries.
Sources:
December 1973 Storm Data Publication
Grazulis, Thomas P. (1993). Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VT: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. Page 1147.
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