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EF1 tornado in Marshall County, Alabama

Tornado February 6, 2008 · Marshall County, Alabama

EF1

Rating

0.2 mi

Path length

35 yd

Path width

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 35 yards (0.02 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

Representatives from the National Weather Service and the Marshall County Emergency Management Agency conducted a storm survey of damage that occurred in Marshall County, Alabama early in the morning of February 6, 2008.

The damage was determined to originate from an EF-1 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 90 MPH. The tornado snapped or uprooted eight trees, destroyed an unanchored carport and two small storage sheds, caused minor roof damage to a nearby house, blew out three windows, and destroyed a large telephone pole. The damage occurred near U.S. Highway 431 northeast of the city of Guntersville.

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 Guntersville Muni Ar (34.3910, -86.2761).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF4 Lawrence County 4 dead EF4 Jackson County 1 dead EF0 Cullman County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 84713. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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