- When
- October 13, 6:29 PM CST to 6:33 PM CST
- Where
- Colbert County, 0.21 mi NW of Tuscumbia to 1.06 mi SSW of Wilson Dam
- Rating
- EF1
- Path length
- 3.48 mi
- Path width
- 200 yd
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NWS Storm Survey
- Coordinates
- 34.732, -87.703
A tornado initially touched down in downtown Tuscumbia, near the intersection of 6th Street and Main Street, where two roofs were peeled off nearby businesses. The brick facade of a small retail building was torn off across 5th Street, and it's roof was partially torn off and roofing material vaulted into nearby power lines. The path continued northeast to High Street between 3rd and 4th Streets, where a very old pecan tree was uprooted and fell onto an historic home causing injury to the resident. In this residential area, multiple trees were snapped and uprooted or had large limbs broken off. Several power poles were snapped. Many more old trees were snapped an uprooted across the road along Commons Street between Mulberry and Hickory Streets.
At this point, the tornado appeared to weaken somewhat as it crossed a large corn field between Commons Street and King Avenue. It snapped branches upon reaching King Avenue and toppled Bradford pear trees on the grounds of Shoals Hospital along Billy Bowling Drive. As the tornado moved across Grand, Pasadena, and Ford Avenues and Ford Street in Muscle Shoals, it did significant damage to multiple trees throughout the neighborhood. Very minor damage was noted to a couple of houses, but nearly all damage was to trees or power poles.
The tornado intensified as it crossed Ford Street and moved into a commercial district along Woodward Avenue near 2nd Street. There was widespread structural damage to businesses and a church in this area. Numerous awnings were damaged or destroyed, roofs were partly torn off of strip malls, a few windows were broken, and several large signs along the road were blown down. Roofing was peeled off of a used car dealership and gas station and vaulted across the street into a wooded area and another nearby gas station. Power poles were snapped, and two metal power poles were bent, damaging the traffic lights at the intersection. The tornado continued across 2nd Street onto the Tennessee Valley Authority Reservation, where it snapped multiple trees along Garage Road. The tornado lifted before reaching Reservation Road, and little to no damage was noted thereafter. Minor straight-line wind damage was observed farther northeast, near Grandview Drive near the Tennessee River, but this was not associated with the tornado.