Alabama, 1998

Tornado in Alabama, April 8, 1998

April 8, 1998 · 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

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The toll

Deaths
2
Injuries
12
Property damage
$2.0 million
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 Birmingham radar (KBMX), 57 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:54 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, St. Clair

When
April 8, 7:56 PM CST to 8:15 PM CST
Where
St. Clair County, Moody to 2 mi SE of Wattsville
Rating
F2
Path length
14.4 mi
Path width
200 yd
Deaths
2 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries
12 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$2.0 million
Crop damage
$5,000
Coordinates
33.620, -86.480

The tornado began 2.3 miles north-northeast of Moody and just west of US 411. The tornado crossed US 411 where a large church and associated buildings, some recently constructed were destroyed. The tornado traveled on an east-northeast track moving through relatively rural areas. It affected a portion of CR 174 and then crossed US 231 just south of Wattsville. The tornado damaged a number of buildings in the Coal City area including a mobile home where two people were killed and three children were injured. The tornado ended in an open area just east of Coal City. Emergency Management for St. Clair County reported that 26 homes were destroyed, 30 homes suffered major damage, and 59 sustained minor damage. This included 42 mobile homes.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Tornado, St. Clair1998-04-0829MaleMobile/Trailer HomeDirect
Tornado, St. Clair1998-04-0833FemaleMobile/Trailer HomeDirect

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 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Alabama, 1998Warnings in Alabama, April 1998

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: 5637197.