EF2 Tornado — Limestone, Alabama

2025-05-20 · near Stewerds Store, Limestone, Alabama

Event narrative

The tornado was initially observed and filmed by multiple storm chasers west of Interstate 65 near Tanner. As it crossed Interstate 65, numerous trees were uprooted or snapped. The tornado tracked eastward, passing south of Huntsville-Brownsferry Road and moving towards Greenbrier Parkway. Along Greenbrier Parkway, multiple trees were uprooted, and several structures sustained minor roof damage. Sporadic tree damage continued east of Greenbrier Parkway toward Powell Road and Burgreen Road. Before crossing County Line Road, minor roof damage occurred to several single-family homes and and several trees were knocked down onto some residences. One home located just west of County Line Road experienced significant damage to its west-facing facade.

Wider weather episode

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.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.7168, -86.9489)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1276369. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.