Talk:2011 Cordova–Blountsville tornado

2011 Cordova–Blountsville tornado is currently an Earth sciences good article nominee. Nominated by E_F⁵ at 16:10, 13 November 2024 (UTC)

An editor has placed this article on hold to allow improvements to be made to satisfy the good article criteria. Recommendations have been left on the review page, and editors have seven days to address these issues. Improvements made in this period will influence the reviewer's decision whether or not to list the article as a good article.

Short description: EF4 tornado that struck central Alabama in 2011

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A fact from 2011 Cordova–Blountsville tornado appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 13 December 2024 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that Cordova, Alabama, was hit by two tornadoes on the same day, the second of which was on the ground for more than two hours?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2024/December. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/2011 Central Alabama tornado.

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Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Royiswariii talk 05:26, 8 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

(

Comment or view
Article history

)

... that the 2011 Central Alabama tornado was on the ground for over two hours? Source: https://www.weather.gov/bmx/event_04272011cordova
- ALT1: ... that the 2011 Central Alabama tornado hit Cordova, Alabama, several hours after another large tornado hit the town? Source: https://www.weather.gov/bmx/event_04272011parrish
- Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/2019 Timaru hailstorm
- Comment:

Created by EF5 (talk). Number of QPQs required: 1. Nominator has 9 past nominations.

E_F⁵ 18:32, 11 November 2024 (UTC).[reply]

(Note: article title is now 2011 Cordova–Blountsville tornado). @EF5: New enough and long enough. QPQ present. Multiple paragraphs in the tornado summary section lack inline citations, presumably ones already being used in other paragraphs. Hook facts check out, though ALT0 reads a bit blandly right now. I'd like to see some reworded hooks, such as these, and would like feedback once you fix the missing inline cites: Sammi Brie (she/her • t • c) 07:49, 1 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
- ALT1a... that Cordova, Alabama, was hit by two tornadoes on the same day, the second of which was on the ground for more than two hours?

@Sammi Brie: Done. ALT1a actually looks perfect. E_F⁵ 21:51, 1 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I see the inline cites are fixed. (Having reviewed tornadoes at GAN, I just figured it was a need for extra citations to the tornado summary etc.) We should be good to go as the hook facts check out. Sammi Brie (she/her • t • c) 22:15, 1 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps a different title

I'm not too keen on this title, since it could refer to a number of tornadoes in the same outbreak, including the 2011 Tuscaloosa-Birmingham tornado. Perhaps 2011 Cordova–Blountsville tornado? TornadoLGS (talk) 22:01, 14 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Sure, why not, seems logical enough. I don't believe this tornado was ever commonly "named", just a slew of "Cullman County" and "Cordova". E_F⁵ 22:03, 14 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:2011 Cordova–Blountsville tornado/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Nominator: EF5 (talk · contribs) 16:10, 13 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Reviewer: PCN02WPS (talk · contribs) 16:44, 13 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Claiming this review as part of GARC, comments to come. PCN02WPS (talk | contribs) 16:44, 13 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Lead

devastating several communities along a 127.8-mile (205.7 km) path, including Cordova and Blountsville → devastating several communities, including Cordova and Blountsville, along a 127.8-mile (205.7 km) path makes more sense to me since the non-restrictive appositive refers to the communities rather than the path

@PCN02WPS:

Done. E_F⁵ 14:06, 14 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

the largest tornado outbreak in modern history, and was one of eleven EF4 tornadoes → remove comma (WP:CINS)

Done. E_F⁵ 14:06, 14 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

where it retained EF0 and EF1 intensity → the word "retained" seems out of place here - if the tornado is strengthening, then "retained" makes it seem like it's staying the same intensity

Done. E_F⁵ 14:06, 14 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

it reached EF3 intensity, and heavily damaged the town → remove comma

Done. E_F⁵ 14:06, 14 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The tornado was the second EF3+ tornado to hit Cordova on April 27 → readers that may be unfamiliar with the EF scale might assume that "EF3+" is a specific variant of an "EF3" rating; might want to spell it out like The tornado was the second tornado of at least EF3 intensity to hit Cordova on April 27 or something similar

Done. E_F⁵ 14:06, 14 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Four people were killed in the downtown area of the town → Four people were killed in downtown Cordova to eliminate repetition within that sentence (even though "Cordova" is repeated in the previous sentence)

Done. E_F⁵ 14:06, 14 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Meteorological synopsis

towards the Arklatex and the Ozarks, and later into the lower Ohio Valley → I believe this can go without a comma

Done. E_F⁵ 14:06, 14 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

reaching the northwest Alabama border around 2:00 a.m. CDT → Might consider linking "CDT" to Central Time Zone on first mention just in case (don't have to spell it out, just a link would suffice IMO)

Done. E_F⁵ 14:06, 14 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

as supercells began to line up to the southwest of the area → which "area" is being referred to here?

Done. E_F⁵ 14:06, 14 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

upgrade to a High Risk for severe weather → does "High Risk" need to be capitalized?

Done, fixed. E_F⁵ 14:06, 14 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

for severe weather around 1:00 p.m. CDT → is this time referring to the time of the warning or the time of the predicted impact of the severe weather?
be hit hours later, notably Cordova → consider including Cordova or something similar, since "notably" is included on the list of words to watch under MOS:EDITORIAL

Done. E_F⁵ 14:06, 14 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

rapidly intensifying to EF3 intensity → a little too repetitive (emphasis is mine)

Done. E_F⁵ 14:06, 14 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The tornado damaged numerous brick buildings in the area, and uprooting several trees before lifting a short distance north of the town → remove comma before "and". The tense also changes halfway through the sentence ("and uprooted several trees" rather than "uprooting")

Done. E_F⁵ 14:06, 14 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Tornado summary

retained this intensity, and widened → remove comma

Done. E_F⁵ 14:06, 14 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

before moving into Tuscaloosa County → remove link since Tuscaloosa County is linked in the previous paragraph

Done. E_F⁵ 14:06, 14 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

remaining debris being thrown a considerable distance → "considerable distance" is sort of meaningless here - is there anything quantitative that could be listed instead?

Done, I've just removed the "considerable distance". E_F⁵ 14:06, 14 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

with debris thrown a considerable distance → same issue as above

Done As above.E_F⁵ 14:06, 14 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It then weakened to EF1 strength → Starting the paragraph with "The tornado" would be best