Tornadoes · United States · Alabama

2004 tornadoes in Alabama

55 tornadoes touched down in Alabama in 2004, 56 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 1 people and injured 12.

2003 2005 The whole country in 2004

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 2004

March 5 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 5	9:28 PM CST	F0	Limestone	2.0	75
March 5	9:33 PM CST	F0	Limestone	1.5	75

May 30 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
May 30	11:40 PM CDT	F1	Lauderdale	3.2	70		$10,000
May 30	11:52 PM CDT	F1	Lauderdale	6.0	150		$30,000
May 30	12:09 AM CDT	F1	Lauderdale	4.0	100		$30,000
May 30	12:20 AM CDT	F1	Lauderdale	2.5	75		$40,000
May 30	12:26 AM CDT	F1	Limestone	9.0	100	3	$200,000
May 30	12:55 AM CDT	F1	Lincoln to TN	23.5	150		$70,000

May 31 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 31	4:22 AM CDT	F0	Jefferson	1.7	150	$250,000
May 31	4:29 AM CDT	F0	Jefferson	4.2	150	$500,000
May 31	2:20 PM CDT	F0	Geneva	0.2	50	$10,000

June 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 25	6:23 PM CDT	F0	Mobile	0.1	20

July 6 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 6	6:28 PM CDT	F0	Madison	0.1	2

July 14 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
July 14	4:20 PM CDT	F0	Madison	1.0	50	1	$10,000
July 14	5:25 PM CDT	F0	Colbert	0.2	60
July 14	5:40 PM CDT	F0	Colbert	0.3	128

August 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 20	3:23 PM CDT	F0	Jackson	1.0	30

September 15 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 15	7:20 PM CDT	F0	Escambia	3.0	30			$3,000
September 15	7:40 PM CDT	F0	Conecuh	1.0	30			$2,000

September 16 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
September 16	2:25 AM CDT	F0	Pike	0.1	30	$2,000
September 16	2:56 AM CDT	F0	Barbour	0.2	40	$2,000
September 16	3:05 AM CDT	F0	Pike	0.1	30	$2,000
September 16	3:49 AM CDT	F0	Montgomery	0.1	35	$3,000
September 16	5:05 AM CDT	F0	Barbour	0.1	40	$2,000
September 16	6:00 AM CDT	F0	Macon	0.1	25	$2,000

October 18 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
October 18	4:45 PM CDT	F1	Colbert	2.0	200	$2,000
October 18	4:48 PM CDT	F1	Lauderdale	5.0	200	$20,000
October 18	5:10 PM CDT	F1	Lauderdale	2.0	50	$10,000
October 18	6:27 PM CDT	F0	Limestone	2.0	35

October 19 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 19	8:00 PM CDT	F0	Conecuh	0.5	30			$10,000

November 23 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 23	9:38 PM CST	F1	Marion	13.9	250			$400,000

November 24 20 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 24	4:10 AM CST	F2	Marengo	11.9	200		2	$140,000
November 24	4:35 AM CST	F1	Clarke	3.0	100			$200,000
November 24	4:40 AM CST	F0	Choctaw	0.5	30			$10,000
November 24	4:43 AM CST	F0	Marengo	5.0	50			$30,000
November 24	5:07 AM CST	F1	Dallas	14.7	300		1	$100,000
November 24	5:28 AM CST	F0	Jefferson	1.0	50			$70,000
November 24	5:49 AM CST	F2	Autauga	49.0	1,400			$630,000
November 24	5:56 AM CST	F0	Dallas	1.1	50			$20,000
November 24	6:24 AM CST	F2	Autauga	9.7	500		1	$900,000
November 24	6:36 AM CST	F1	Talladega	0.9	50			$80,000
November 24	6:41 AM CST	F0	Talladega	5.7	250			$640,000
November 24	6:48 AM CST	F0	Talladega	3.3	100			$50,000
November 24	6:48 AM CST	F0	Elmore	2.4	50			$120,000
November 24	6:59 AM CST	F2	Talladega	15.2	500	1		$210,000
November 24	7:09 AM CST	F1	Clay	13.7	300			$260,000
November 24	7:10 AM CST	F0	Mobile	0.1	20			$10,000
November 24	7:24 AM CST	F0	Montgomery	4.8	75			$40,000
November 24	7:35 AM CST	F0	Tallapoosa	0.8	30			$10,000
November 24	7:55 AM CST	F0	Baldwin	0.1	30
November 24	8:09 AM CST	F0	Lee	0.2	30			$30,000

November 27 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
November 27	11:35 AM CST	F2	Baldwin	4.5	300	4	$400,000
November 27	11:35 AM CST	F0	Baldwin	1.5	200		$10,000
November 27	11:45 AM CST	F0	Baldwin	0.1	50		$30,000
November 27	11:55 AM CST	F1	Escambia to FL	4.0	200		$200,000

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
September 15	1:53 PM CDT	F0	Escambia, FL to AL	5.0	30			$3,000
December 7	3:55 AM CST	F2	Lowndes, MS to AL	8.0	200			$200,000

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.