Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 1982

F3 tornado, Mobile County, Alabama, April 25, 1982

This F3 tornado ran 1.5 miles across Mobile County on April 25, 1982, touching down at 6:20 AM CDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50,000 to $500,000 of property damage.

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.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. 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.

  4. F3158 to 206 mphthis tornado

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

The record

Rating
F3
Date
April 25, 1982
Touchdown
6:20 AM CDT (11:20 UTC)
Path length
1.5 miles (2.4 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$50,000 to $500,000
County
Mobile County
Touchdown point
30.250, -88.130
Record number
200

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 1982 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 25, 1982

22 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 256:00 AM CDTF2Jackson, MS0.1103$50,000 to $500,000
April 256:25 AM CDTF1Mobile, AL1.050$500 to $5,000
April 256:30 AM CDTF1Baldwin, AL1.077$5,000 to $50,000
April 259:00 AM CDTF1Santa Rosa, FL0.520$5,000 to $50,000
April 254:10 PM EDTF0Ben Hill, GA1.030$5,000 to $50,000
April 256:00 PM EDTF2Lanier, GA1.04005$500,000 to $5 million
April 255:30 PM CDTF0Fannin, TX1.050
April 256:52 PM CDTF1Garland, AR0.110under $50
April 257:08 PM CDTF1Red River, TX4.077$5,000 to $50,000
April 257:10 PM CDTF2Lamar, TX13.0100$50,000 to $500,000
April 257:35 PM CDTF3Hot Spring, AR9.0880$50,000 to $500,000
April 257:50 PM CDTF1Bowie, TX3.050under $50
April 258:30 PM CDTF2Cleveland, AR2.0200$5,000 to $50,000
April 258:42 PM CDTF1Cass, TX6.050under $50
April 258:54 PM CDTF1Bowie, TX2.050under $50
April 259:00 PM CDTF0Saline, AR0.110under $50
April 259:15 PM CDTF3De Soto Parish, LA7.0200$50,000 to $500,000
April 259:15 PM CDTF3De Soto Parish, LA7.0200$50,000 to $500,000
April 259:30 PM CDTF1Grant, AR0.110$5,000 to $50,000
April 2510:00 PM CDTF2Pulaski, AR0.53001$500,000 to $5 million
April 2510:45 PM CDTF3Webster Parish, LA23.05001$50,000 to $500,000
April 2511:11 PM CDTF0Lonoke, AR0.110under $50

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.