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 1983
February 1 1 tornado
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| February 1 | 5:30 AM CST | F0 | Mobile | 4.0 | 150 | | 1 | $5,000 to $50,000 |
February 22 4 tornadoes
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| February 22 | 1:15 PM CST | F2 | Walker | 8.0 | 90 | | | $50,000 to $500,000 |
| February 22 | 2:05 PM CST | F2 | Cullman | 1.5 | 60 | | | $50,000 to $500,000 |
| February 22 | 2:15 PM CST | F1 | Cullman | 1.0 | 40 | | | $5,000 to $50,000 |
| February 22 | 3:28 PM CST | F2 | Marshall | 2.2 | 440 | | | $500,000 to $5 million |
March 20 1 tornado
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| March 20 | 1:10 PM CST | F1 | Butler | 0.1 | 30 | | | under $50 |
March 26 1 tornado
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| March 26 | 4:50 PM CST | F1 | Mobile | 0.1 | 20 | | | $50,000 to $500,000 |
April 14 1 tornado
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| April 14 | 6:12 AM CST | F1 | Baldwin | 0.1 | 30 | | | $500 to $5,000 |
April 23 1 tornado
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| April 23 | 2:10 PM CST | F1 | Elmore | 0.1 | 40 | | | $50 to $500 |
May 3 1 tornado
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| May 3 | 8:10 AM CDT | F1 | Cullman | 0.1 | 50 | | | $5,000 to $50,000 |
May 15 1 tornado
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| May 15 | 10:19 AM CDT | F1 | Cullman | 0.1 | 50 | | | $500 to $5,000 |
May 16 2 tornadoes
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| May 16 | 3:30 AM CDT | F1 | Macon | 6.0 | 50 | | | $500 to $5,000 |
| May 16 | 4:10 AM CDT | F3 | Coffee | 1.5 | 150 | | 1 | $50,000 to $500,000 |
May 19 4 tornadoes
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| May 19 | 3:30 AM CDT | F2 | Cullman | 4.0 | 150 | | | $5,000 to $50,000 |
| May 19 | 10:25 AM CDT | F2 | Clarke | 22.0 | 100 | | | $5,000 to $50,000 |
| May 19 | 3:35 PM CDT | F1 | Marshall | 1.5 | 80 | | 2 | $5,000 to $50,000 |
| May 19 | 5:15 PM CDT | F3 | DeKalb | 1.2 | 473 | | 3 | $500,000 to $5 million |
June 16 1 tornado
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| June 16 | 4:10 PM CDT | F1 | Etowah | 4.0 | 33 | | 1 | $50,000 to $500,000 |
July 20 1 tornado
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| July 20 | 4:45 PM CDT | F1 | Baldwin | 0.2 | 50 | | | $500 to $5,000 |
August 22 1 tornado
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| August 22 | 3:37 PM CDT | F1 | Bibb | 0.3 | 70 | | | $50,000 to $500,000 |
August 29 1 tornado
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| August 29 | 2:20 PM CDT | F1 | Hale | 2.0 | 200 | | | $500 to $5,000 |
November 14 1 tornado
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| November 14 | 5:30 PM CST | F0 | Clarke | 0.1 | 50 | | | $500 to $5,000 |
November 15 5 tornadoes
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| November 15 | 12:12 AM CST | F3 | Cullman | 17.0 | 200 | | 19 | $500,000 to $5 million |
| November 15 | 1:30 AM CST | F2 | Blount | 0.5 | 33 | | | $5,000 to $50,000 |
| November 15 | 1:30 AM CST | F2 | Tuscaloosa | 0.2 | 40 | | | $5,000 to $50,000 |
| November 15 | 2:55 AM CST | F1 | Cherokee | 0.8 | 40 | | | $5,000 to $50,000 |
| November 15 | 7:05 AM CST | F1 | Baldwin | 0.1 | 20 | | | $5,000 to $50,000 |
November 20 1 tornado
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| November 20 | 1:40 AM CST | F1 | Escambia | 1.5 | 100 | | 1 | $50,000 to $500,000 |
November 23 3 tornadoes
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| November 23 | 11:20 AM CST | F1 | Fayette | 8.0 | 67 | | | $5,000 to $50,000 |
| November 23 | 11:48 AM CST | F2 | Wilcox | 4.0 | 77 | | 2 | $50,000 to $500,000 |
| November 23 | 12:00 PM CST | F2 | Walker | 0.5 | 150 | | | $5,000 to $50,000 |
November 27 1 tornado
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| November 27 | 1:00 PM CST | F1 | Marengo | 0.1 | 100 | | | $5,000 to $50,000 |
December 3 8 tornadoes
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| December 3 | 4:05 PM CST | F1 | Tuscaloosa | 0.1 | 30 | | | $500 to $5,000 |
| December 3 | 4:20 PM CST | F1 | Sumter | 0.2 | 50 | | | $50,000 to $500,000 |
| December 3 | 4:50 PM CST | F1 | Hale | 14.0 | 60 | | | $5,000 to $50,000 |
| December 3 | 5:10 PM CST | F1 | Bibb | 15.0 | 60 | | | $5,000 to $50,000 |
| December 3 | 5:40 PM CST | F1 | Clarke | 5.0 | 50 | | | $50,000 to $500,000 |
| December 3 | 5:45 PM CST | F1 | Chilton | 0.2 | 30 | | | $5,000 to $50,000 |
| December 3 | 6:37 PM CST | F3 | Calhoun | 4.0 | 150 | 2 | 51 | $500,000 to $5 million |
| December 3 | 9:15 PM CST | F1 | Russell | 0.1 | 40 | | | $5,000 to $50,000 |
December 6 1 tornado
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| December 6 | 2:51 AM CST | F3 | Dallas | 13.0 | 500 | 1 | 19 | $500,000 to $5 million |
December 11 3 tornadoes
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| December 11 | 3:15 AM CST | F1 | Mobile | 0.1 | 30 | | | $5,000 to $50,000 |
| December 11 | 5:00 PM CST | F0 | Pickens | 3.0 | 100 | | | $5,000 to $50,000 |
| December 11 | 6:45 PM CST | F1 | Tuscaloosa | 0.5 | 127 | | | $5,000 to $50,000 |
December 28 1 tornado
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|
| December 28 | 4:40 AM CST | F2 | Covington | 15.0 | 80 | | 1 | $50,000 to $500,000 |
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.
NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.