Alabama, 1997

Tornado in Alabama, November 21, 1997

November 21, 1997 · NWS MOB · 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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$2.0 million
Crop damage
None recorded
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 Mobile radar (KMOB), 23 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:38 UTC.

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Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Mobile

When
November 21, 7:40 PM CST to 7:42 PM CST
Where
Mobile County, Saraland
Rating
F3
Path length
1 mi
Path width
300 yd
Property damage
$2.0 million
Coordinates
30.820, -88.070

An F3 tornado touched down just east of I-65 in Saraland near Shelton Beach Estates. The tornado skipped east northeast along the ground before lifting back into the cloud near U S Highway 43. Three homes were almost completely gone, three more suffered major damage and about sixty homes in the middle-class neighbourhood suffered some damage. Most of the damage was consistent with an F1 or F2 tornado. No one was injured. Several people knew they were under a tornado warning and were able to take cover before the storm struck. Most of the residents said they did not hear the familiar "Freight Train Sound" before the tornado struck.

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

More

Every storm in Alabama in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Alabama, 1997Warnings in Alabama, November 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: 5619960.