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F1 tornado in Mobile County, Alabama

Tornado January 26, 1996 · Mobile County, Alabama

F1
Rating
2.0 mi
Path length
500 yd
Path width
1
Death
3
Injuries
$100K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

NOAA recorded where this tornado touched down but not where it lifted, so it appears as a point. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F1 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F1 meant moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken; the scale paired it with winds of 73–112 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

The wider storm

A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ALONG US HWY 45 NEAR GULF CREST AND THEN MOVED NORTHEAST FOR ABOUT 2 MILES. THREE PEOPLE WERE INJURED AND ONE OF THESE DIED IN A LOCAL HOSPITAL ABOUT A WEEK LATER. TWO ELDERLY WOMEN WERE IN A TRAILER THAT WAS TURNED OVER BY THE TORNADO. ANOTHER OF THE INJURED WAS IN A MOTOR HOME NEXT TO THE TRAILER. THE TRAILER WAS LOCATED ON A HILL AND THIS WAS WHERE THE TORNADO FIRST TOUCHED DOWN. OTHER HOMES AWAY FROM THE TRAILER SUFFERED ROOF DAMAGE AS THE TORNADO MOVED NORTHEAST. TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN AND TWISTED ALONG THE PATH OF THE TORNADO.

Began near Gulf Crest (31.0000, -88.2300).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5537373. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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