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EF1 tornado in Coffee County, Alabama

Tornado October 8, 2008 · Coffee County, Alabama

EF1

Rating

1.9 mi

Path length

150 yd

Path width

$4.0M

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 150 yards (0.09 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

A tornado touched down just south of the Enterprise Civic Center. It moved to the east-northeast and lifted just east of Boll Weevil Circle near the Walmart. It caused extensive damage to the civic center, with several windows blown out and much of its roof removed. The winds damaged several vehicles outside the Enterprise Senior Center. A building attached to the old Bama Cotton Mill collapsed. More than a hundred homes and businesses were also damaged. Fortunately, no injuries or deaths were reported. The tornado was rated an EF-1 with winds estimated from 100 to 105 mph.

The wider storm

Several lines of strong to severe thunderstorms formed ahead of a cold front and strong low pressure system over southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, and moved into portions of southeast Alabama during the afternoon of the 8th.

Began near Enterprise (31.3154, -85.8587).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF0 Dale County EF0 Dale County EF0 Houston County EF0 Dale County EF0 Henry County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 138279. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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