Home / Alabama / Pickens

EF1 tornado in Pickens County, Alabama

Tornado January 10, 2008 · Pickens County, Alabama

EF1

Rating

2.0 mi

Whole path

100 yd

Path width

$55K

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Pickens County → Tuscaloosa County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 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

The tornado touched down between Gordo and the Tuscaloosa County line, near the intersection of Ben Elmore Road and CR-33. From there, it travelled east-northeast before crossing into Tuscaloosa County. A barn and several old chicken houses on CR-33 east of Gordo sustained heavy damage.

The wider storm

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

Began near Gordo (33.3133, -87.8629).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 76561. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.