EF3 Tornado — Dekalb, Alabama

2010-04-24 · near Rodgers, Dekalb, Alabama

Event narrative

A long track EF-3 tornado crossed into DeKalb County about 6.5 miles west-southwest of Geraldine, about one mile north of Highway 75. The tornado continued into the town of Geraldine, snapping or uprooting numerous large trees which also led to some structural damage to residences. This was also noted along County Roads 227 and 52, just southeast of State Highway 75.

Wider weather episode

Four damaging tornadoes tore tracks through north central and northeast Alabama during the evening and overnight hours of the 24th. These tornadoes were part of a larger regional tornado outbreak across the lower Mississippi and Tennessee Valleys. The tornadoes were associated with three separate long track supercell thunderstorms that thrived upon a very unstable and high shear environment. One of the longer track tornadoes tore through several successive communities with up to EF-3 strength in Marshall and DeKalb Counties, including the towns of Albertville, Geraldine and Pine Ridge, lifting just before reaching Fort Payne. A tornado from the same storm then touched down again in the Mentone area before crossing the Georgia state line. Another supercell produced yet another tornado southwest of Collinsville, tracking just a few miles south of the earlier damaging tornado. This tornado reached EF-4 strength when it completely leveled the McNutt United Methodist Church on County Road 55. Fortunately, no fatalities occurred with these particular tornadoes, but damages were severe.

In Marshall County, total costs from the tornado had exceeded $14 million, which included 1032 homes experiencing at least some damage, and 93 homes destroyed. In DeKalb County, damage losses were still being tallied. Debris removal costs alone have exceeded $3 million.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.3181, -86.1085)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 232520. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.