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EF0 tornado in Limestone County, Alabama

Tornado May 20, 2025 · Limestone County, Alabama

EF0
Rating
16.9 mi
Whole path
50 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 50 yards (0.03 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF0 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF0 is light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 65–85 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

A tornado crossed the Elk River into Limestone County, snapping large limbs and the tops of trees before dissipating along Snake Road and Little Elk Road.

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 Wheeler Lake North (34.7740, -87.2780).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Limestone CountyEF2 Madison CountyEF1 Lauderdale CountyEF1 Limestone CountyEF1 Limestone CountyEF1 Morgan CountyEF1 Madison CountyEF1 Jackson CountyEF1 Marshall CountyEF1 Dekalb CountyEF1 Dekalb CountyEF0 Jackson CountyEFU Lawrence County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1276202. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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