Folks attending the Central Alabama National Weather Association’s March 8th meeting at
Jim ‘N Nick’s in Homewood were in for several treats:
The legendary J. B. Elliott was guest speaker, and gave a fascinating overview of the April, 1977
Smithfield tornado which killed 22 people.
J. B., who worked for the National Weather Service at the time, narrated a slideshow of damage
pictures he took from aboard a Birmingham Police Department helicopter, and he passed around
some of his photographs, along with an amazing satellite image showing the tornado’s damage
track clearly visible from space.
This monster of a storm was nearly 3/4 of a mile wide at one point and plowed through the Smithfield
area at around 60 miles per hour.
Everyone in the audience was well behaved–except, that is, for these guys … hmmm, do
The Three Stooges come to mind?
Of course, we know that J. B. showed up ONLY to speak about the tornado, and that he had
NO interest whatsoever in any of the tasty barbecue or in sampling any of these delicious Jim ‘N Nick’s
desserts. Yea. Right!
If you would like to know more about the Smithfield tornado–and if you would like to see
some of J. B.’s amazing pictures from the event–you can see them on line here.
The Central Alabama NWA Chapter is a great group of folks. If you’re a weather enthusiast,
consider joining them. You can find out more about the NWA, including how to join, by visiting their website.
Thanks, J. B., for a great presentation! So, how was dessert?
