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EF1 tornado in Colbert County, Alabama

Tornado May 20, 2025 · Colbert County, Alabama

EF1
Rating
16.9 mi
Whole path
575 yd
Path width
1
Injury
$616K
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Colbert County → Lauderdale County → Limestone County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 575 yards (0.33 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The tornado touched down near Ford City where initial tree limbs snapped then rapidly began uprooting numerous trees north of River Road. Several trees were uprooted on River Road. One of these trees fell on a home and the drywall fell and scratched a child, resulting in one injury. North of River Road, several trees were found uprooted along with two collapsed silos along Sprout Spring Hollow Road. These silos had been in place since the 1930s and were completely destroyed, marking the maximum intensity of 105 mph. The tornado then tracked east-southeast toward Foster Mills and Red Bank, uprooting numerous trees along its path and snapping large limbs. The tornado then proceeded to cross the Tennessee River - Wheeler Lake into Lauderdale County.

The wider storm

An outbreak of tornadoes, large hail, wind damage and flash flooding occurred during the afternoon and evening of the 20th. Fourteen tornadoes occurred in north Alabama, including 1 EF-0, 10 EF-1, 2 EF-2, and 1 EF-U (unknown) which was a waterspout on Wheeler Lake. One person was injured in Colbert County. There were also several reports of large hail, including baseball sized and larger in northern Lawrence and southeastern Lauderdale Counties. Damaging winds were also experienced as well with the severe thunderstorms. Lightning sparked a fire which resulted in severe structural and water damage and total loss to the Albertville Public Library which is scheduled to be demolished. There were two reports of flash flooding in Jackson County.

Began near Ford City (34.7874, -87.5347).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

13 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1276197. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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