Tornado in Alabama, June 16, 1997

Name: Tornado in Alabama, June 16, 1997
Start: 1997-06-16T12:08
End: 1997-06-16T12:11
Location: Alabama

June 16, 1997 · NWS BMX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 1
Property damage: $100,000
Crop damage: $5,000
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Colbert

When: June 16, 12:08 PM CST to 12:11 PM CST
Where: Colbert County, Leighton to 2 mi E of Leighton
Rating: F1
Path length: 3 mi
Path width: 50 yd
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $100,000
Crop damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 34.700, -87.550

A tornado touched down near the intersection of Sockwell Lane and CR 22 and moved nearly due east causing damage to five houses in the area where it first touched down and to the high school near the end of the track. One person was injured when he fell down the stairs heading to shelter. Several trees were also downed. Several storage sheds were destroyed, too.

What these are

Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alabama in 1997 Every state in 1997 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Alabama, 1997 Warnings in Alabama, June 1997

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5605530.