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EF1 tornado in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

Tornado February 6, 2008 · Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

EF1

Rating

26.2 mi

Whole path

1,000 yd

Path width

Injuries

$335K

Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,000 yards (0.57 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 that touched down in southeastern Fayette County entered Tuscaloosa County just west of the New Lexington Community. From there, the tornado continued its northeastward path, staying just inside Tuscaloosa County for about 5.5 miles. The tornado damaged a gas station building in New Lexington, and downed numerous trees. The tornado then moved back into Fayette County near Upper Ridge Road.

The wider storm

A strong cold front and very intense upper level storm system moving across the Gulf Coast States brought numerous severe thunderstorms and several tornadoes to Central Alabama.

Began near New Lexington (33.5637, -87.6666).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Coosa County EF1 Lamar County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 83061. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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