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EF2 tornado in Morgan County, Alabama

Tornado February 6, 2008 · Morgan County, Alabama

EF2

Rating

16.7 mi

Whole path

200 yd

Path width

Deaths

Injuries

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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

Representatives from the National Weather Service conducted a storm survey of damage in Morgan County, Alabama that occurred early on February 6th, 2008.

The tornado continued its destructive path from Lawrence into Morgan County about 5 miles southwest of Decatur. The tornado tracked another 2.7 miles into Morgan County lifting near the Trinity community west of Decatur around 3:20 AM CST.

The wider storm

The WFO Huntsville County Warning Area experienced the worst tornado outbreak in 19 years on February 6, 2008. While the number of observed tornadoes was low (4), the area experienced two EF-4 tornadoes, the first time the area has witnessed more than one devastating tornado on the same day since 1974.

This event was part of a large tornado outbreak which spanned both February 5th (Super Tuesday) and 6th (Wednesday). A series of tornadic supercell thunderstorms swept across the Mid-South and Southeast states ahead of a potent cold front.

Began near Pumpkin Center (34.5292, -87.1103).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF4 Jackson County 1 dead EF1 Marshall County EF0 Cullman County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 83642. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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