EF0 Tornado — Cleburne, Alabama

2026-01-10 · near Cold Water, Cleburne, Alabama

Event narrative

The National Weather Service in Birmingham surveyed damage in northern Cleburne County and confirmed an EF-0 tornado with winds up to 80 mph. The tornado began in a heavily forested area between County Road (CR) 549 and CR 205, where several pine trees were uprooted or limbs were snapped. The track moved northeast across a large area of inaccessible land and emerged at CR 296 and CR 49, where several more small pine trees were snapped or uprooted. More tree damage was noted at the intersection of CR 40 and CR 65, with very minor damage to a couple homes. The tornado then followed along CR 65, with additional tree damage along both sides of the road. Tree damage became slightly heavier as the tornado approached the Mars Hill community. The tornado struck four chicken houses and peeled the roofing off the southern end of three, scattering debris to the east and northeast. A home sustained minor roof damage, and a detached garage was damaged by a falling tree. Just downstream, a shed was destroyed in the yard of another residence. A tornado debris signature then became apparent on radar. The damage became more sparse as the path continued, with tree damage, mostly to pines, continuing across CR 123 and CR 253. The damage path appeared to end just past CR 253, before reaching the Georgia state line.

Wider weather episode

A multi-wave severe event unfolded from the afternoon of January 9 through the morning of January 10. While the first wave featured no severe thunderstorms, heavy rainfall over Birmingham led to numerous flooding issues. Early the next morning, additional heavy rainfall led to more flooding issues in parts of Jefferson, Shelby, and St. Clair counties. A bowing line segment moved across Marengo, Dallas, Autauga, Elmore, Montgomery, and Lee counties, with scattered instances of wind damage. In addition, a cell in advance of the main QLCS produced an EF-0 tornado in northern Cleburne County.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.7984, -85.4927)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1300187. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.