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EF3 tornado in Lamar County, Alabama

Tornado January 10, 2008 · Lamar County, Alabama

EF3

Rating

13.2 mi

Whole path

2,500 yd

Path width

Injuries

$7.1M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Lowndes County, Mississippi → Lamar County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 2,500 yards (1.42 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF3 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF3 is severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, consistent with estimated gusts of 136–165 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

This tornado is a continuation of a tornado that originally touched down in Lowndes County Mississippi. It crossed into Alabama near Willie Greer Road, just north of AL-18. From there, it continued to move east-northeast, remaining just north of AL-18 as it passed close to the town of Molloy. The tornado finally lifted near McNees Crossing Road, just northeast of Molloy. Along its path in Alabama, the tornado took the roof off of two homes, destroyed 2 wooden barns, moved the foundation of 2 mobile homes, and uprooted several huge trees. Although it only produced EF-2 damage in Alabama, the entire tornado was rated EF-3 due to the damage in Mississippi.

The wider storm

A strong low pressure system and associated cold front caused numerous severe thunderstorms and isolated tornadoes across central Alabama.

Began near Molloy (33.7297, -88.2509).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF3 Tuscaloosa County EF1 Pickens County EF1 Barbour County EF0 Marengo County EF0 Pickens County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 76555. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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