4 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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 local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Huntsville, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 18, 2:22 PM CST, 1 hour 23 minutes earlier.
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</html>SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 304 PM CDT MON OCT 18 2004 ALZ001-002-182030- COLBERT-LAUDERDALE- 304 PM CDT MON OCT 18 2004 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR A STRONG THUNDERSTORM APPROACHING NORTHWEST ALABAMA... AT 3 PM...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI WAS MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH TOWARD THE WATERLOO AREA OF LAUDERDALE COUNTY...AND THE RIVERTON AREA OF COLBERT COUNTY. BASED ON THE CURRENT MOVEMENT... THE STORM WILL REACH THAT AREA AROUND 330 PM. THIS STORM IS ROTATING... AND IF IT KEEPS ITS CURRENT STRENGTH... IT WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WIND GUSTS TO AROUND 50 MPH OR MORE AND LARGE HAIL. PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. SCHAUB
The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 113 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:43 UTC.
4 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A tornado touched down and demolished two sheds and destroyed several trees in its path as it moved northeast toward the Natchez Trace. Maximum wind speeds with the tornado were at 100 miles an hour .
The tornado continued its path into Lauderdale county and heavily damaged two mobile homes, slightly injuring three people. A barn was also destroyed near where the mobile homes were damaged. Maximum wind speeds of the tornado where the most damage occurred was also at 100 mph.
Another tornado touched down at Lexington and destroyed several large trees and a couple of out buildings as it crossed over into Tennessee. Maximum wind speed of this tornado before it moved into Tennessee was at 80 mph.
A F-0 tornado with maximum wind speeds at 60 mph touched down and destroyed a few trees and power lines.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Alabama, 2004Warnings in Alabama, October 2004
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5427219, 5427220, 5427221, 5427222.