Tornadoes · United States · Alabama

1975 tornadoes in Alabama

34 tornadoes touched down in Alabama in 1975, about the average of the record for the state. They killed 2 people and injured 142. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

1974 1976 The whole country in 1975

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2113 to 157 mph
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
F3158 to 206 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5261 to 318 mph
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Alabama in 1975

January 10 13 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 10	2:30 PM CST	F1	Tuscaloosa	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000
January 10	2:45 PM CST	F1	Mobile	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000
January 10	2:45 PM CST	F1	Marengo	0.1	10			$500 to $5,000
January 10	2:45 PM CST	F2	Jefferson	2.0	100		4	$50,000 to $500,000
January 10	3:45 PM CST	F1	Jefferson	0.1	10			$50,000 to $500,000
January 10	4:00 PM CST	F1	Shelby	0.2	50		14	$50,000 to $500,000
January 10	4:14 PM CST	F3	St. Clair	18.8	150	1	60	$500,000 to $5 million
January 10	4:15 PM CST	F1	Baldwin	0.1	10			$500 to $5,000
January 10	4:45 PM CST	F1	Autauga	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000
January 10	4:50 PM CST	F2	Montgomery	2.0	100			$500,000 to $5 million
January 10	6:00 PM CST	F2	Macon	1.0	100		9	$50,000 to $500,000
January 10	6:30 PM CST	F2	Lee	0.1	10			$500,000 to $5 million
January 10	6:30 PM CST	F1	Cleburne	0.1	50		1	$50,000 to $500,000

February 16 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 16	10:15 AM CST	F1	Baldwin	1.0	100			$5,000 to $50,000
February 16	10:30 AM CST	F2	Baldwin	1.0	200			$50,000 to $500,000

February 23 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 23	1:30 PM CDT	F2	Walker	1.0	100			$50,000 to $500,000
February 23	2:20 PM CDT	F2	Cullman	2.0	200		1	$50,000 to $500,000
February 23	2:45 PM CDT	F4	Tuscaloosa	14.4	500	1	49	$5 million to $50 million
February 23	3:35 PM CDT	F0	Calhoun	1.0	100			under $50

March 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 7	6:30 PM CDT	F0	Russell	0.3	50

March 13 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
March 13	3:45 PM CDT	F0	Tuscaloosa	0.5	50	$50 to $500
March 13	4:55 PM CDT	F1	Chilton	1.0	50	$5,000 to $50,000
March 13	6:55 PM CDT	F1	Baldwin	0.1	10	$5,000 to $50,000

March 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 18	6:20 PM CDT	F1	Tuscaloosa	2.0	50			$5,000 to $50,000

March 29 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 29	7:05 AM CDT	F1	Blount	3.0	30		3	$5,000 to $50,000

April 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 2	6:30 PM CDT	F1	Tallapoosa	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000

April 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 10	4:00 AM CDT	F1	Escambia	0.3	20			$5,000 to $50,000

April 30 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 30	4:00 PM CDT	F1	Escambia	0.3	20			$5,000 to $50,000

May 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 8	10:48 PM CDT	F1	Marshall	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000

June 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 17	5:20 PM CDT	F0	Conecuh	0.1	10

October 17 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 17	2:40 AM CDT	F1	Houston	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000
October 17	6:30 AM CDT	F0	Coffee	0.1	10

November 6 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 6	12:30 PM CST	F1	Mobile	0.1	10		1	$5,000 to $50,000
November 6	3:50 PM CST	F0	Baldwin	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000

Crossed into Alabama

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Alabama. They are counted under the state they began in.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 13	8:35 PM CDT	F1	Okaloosa, FL to AL	18.5	880			$50,000 to $500,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Alabama since 1950 Warnings in force in Alabama The live radar over Alabama

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.