EF0 tornado in Cherokee County, Alabama

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in southern Cherokee County and determined that it was consistent with an EF0 tornado, with maximum winds near 80 mph.

This tornado originated in Calhoun County and crossed into Cherokee County just west of Highway 9. The tornado tracked northeast and crossed Highway 9 and County Road 33. The tornado was in a weakening phase once it crossed into Cherokee County and dissipated just east of County Road 29. Damage consisted mostly of uprooted trees.

A potent storm system affected Central Alabama on Thursday, March 25th. A highly-sheared environment combined with increasing instability produced numerous tornadic thunderstorms. Severe parameters were supportive of significant and long-track supercells, prompting the issuance of a rare High Risk Convective Outlook from the Storm Prediction Center for portions of Central Alabama.

A total of 10 tornado tracks were surveyed in Central Alabama. This included 4 EF3 tornadoes, 3 EF2 tornadoes, and 3 EF1 tornadoes. Damage was significant along the paths of the most intense tornadoes and, unfortunately, injuries and fatalities occurred.

Some storms were cyclic, meaning multiple tornadoes were produced by the same storm. The most impressive tornado of the event was the long-track tornado that traveled nearly 80 miles from Hale County to Shelby County. This ranked as the seventh longest single tornado track in the state of Alabama.