Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 1985

F2 tornado, Cullman County, Alabama, August 16, 1985

This F2 tornado ran 10.0 miles across Cullman County on August 16, 1985, touching down at 3:20 PM CDT and reaching 80 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 mphthis tornado

    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 mph

    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
F2
Date
August 16, 1985
Touchdown
3:20 PM CDT (20:20 UTC)
Path length
10.0 miles (16.1 km)
Path width
80 yards (73 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$50,000 to $500,000
County
Cullman County
Touchdown point
33.970, -86.880
Lift-off point
34.050, -86.720
Record number
560

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Centreville/Bibb, AL (KCKL), 12:00Z

8.3 hours before the tornado, 129 km from the path. August 16, 1985.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Centreville/Bibb, AL at 12:00Z on 1985-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 904 joules per kilogram, CIN -27, lifted condensation level 679 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Centreville/Bibb, AL at 12:00Z on 1985-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 123 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 21 knots.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
904 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-27 J/kg
Surface CAPE
353 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
679 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
123 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
120 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.8
0-3 km lapse rate
4.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Centreville/Bibb, AL (KCKL), 00:00Z

3.7 hours after it, 129 km from the path. August 17, 1985.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Centreville/Bibb, AL at 00:00Z on 1985-08-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1274 joules per kilogram, CIN -13, lifted condensation level 704 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Centreville/Bibb, AL at 00:00Z on 1985-08-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 230 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 39 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1274 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-13 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2299 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
704 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
230 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
320 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.9
Supercell composite
14.4
0-3 km lapse rate
6.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 1985 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of August 16, 1985

29 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 167:30 AM CDTF1Newton, MS4.5173$50,000 to $500,000
August 169:30 AM CDTF0Clarke, MS0.230$500 to $5,000
August 1611:00 AM CDTF2Walker, AL1.312011$500,000 to $5 million
August 1611:10 AM CDTF2Walker, AL1.51305$500,000 to $5 million
August 1612:20 PM CDTF1Lawrence, AL0.130$500 to $5,000
August 1612:35 PM CDTF2Colbert, AL8.01002$50,000 to $500,000
August 1612:40 PM CDTF3Morgan, AL45.01002$500,000 to $5 million
August 1612:55 PM CDTF2Jefferson, AL3.0600$50,000 to $500,000
August 161:18 PM CDTF1Jefferson, AL3.050$5,000 to $50,000
August 161:30 PM CDTF1Walker, AL0.130$5,000 to $50,000
August 161:33 PM CDTF1Cullman, AL0.630$5,000 to $50,000
August 161:45 PM CDTF1Jefferson, AL0.240$5,000 to $50,000
August 161:55 PM CDTF0Cullman, AL0.840$500 to $5,000
August 162:15 PM CDTF3Cullman, AL32.01006$500,000 to $5 million
August 162:16 PM CDTF1Lauderdale, AL0.240under $50
August 162:20 PM CDTF1Cullman, AL5.550$500 to $5,000
August 162:30 PM CDTF0Jackson, AL0.120$50 to $500
August 162:48 PM CDTF1Jefferson, AL0.130$5,000 to $50,000
August 163:00 PM CDTF3Giles, TN12.05001$50,000 to $500,000
August 163:00 PM CDTF0Clay, AL0.130$500 to $5,000
August 163:08 PM CDTF2Madison, AL13.0100$50,000 to $500,000
August 164:30 PM CDTF2Giles, TN5.060$500 to $5,000
August 164:30 PM CDTF1Madison, AL8.530$5,000 to $50,000
August 165:00 PM CDTF2Lincoln, TN7.070$500 to $5,000
August 165:09 PM CDTF0Etowah, AL0.520under $50
August 165:34 PM CDTF1Stutsman, ND0.213$5,000 to $50,000
August 164:45 PM MDTF1Cherry, NE0.230
August 166:50 PM CDTF1Williamson, TN1.030$500 to $5,000
August 168:55 PM CDTF1Faulk, SD0.210$500 to $5,000

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.