Tornadoes · United States · Alabama

2008 tornadoes in Alabama

94 tornadoes touched down in Alabama in 2008, 166 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 6 people and injured 105. 2 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

2007 2009 The whole country in 2008

The rating scale

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

EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 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.
EF3136 to 165 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF5over 200 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 2008

January 10 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
January 10	1:08 PM CST	EF0	Marengo	0.5	200	$100,000
January 10	3:10 PM CST	EF0	Pickens	0.0	50	$10,000
January 10	3:43 PM CST	EF1	Pickens	2.0	100	$55,000
January 10	4:11 PM CST	EF3	Tuscaloosa	5.6	350	$435,000

January 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 11	2:04 AM CST	EF1	Barbour	3.5	150			$70,000

February 6 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 6	2:04 AM CST	EF1	Lamar	7.3	150			$70,000
February 6	2:51 AM CST	EF2	Fayette	26.2	2,000		4	$335,000
February 6	3:02 AM CST	EF4	Lawrence	16.7	880	4	23
February 6	4:00 AM CST	EF0	Cullman	0.3	20
February 6	4:45 AM CST	EF1	Marshall	0.2	35
February 6	5:17 AM CST	EF4	Jackson	10.9	660	1	12
February 6	6:25 AM CST	EF2	Coosa	15.9	2,000			$120,000

February 17 15 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
February 17	12:00 AM CST	EF1	Barbour	2.3	50		$75,000
February 17	12:26 PM CST	EF2	Dallas	7.6	400		$350,000
February 17	1:04 PM CST	EF2	Escambia	14.4	500		$950,000
February 17	1:05 PM CST	EF1	Chilton	1.2	200		$150,000
February 17	1:42 PM CST	EF1	Coosa	10.8	100		$105,000
February 17	1:47 PM CST	EF0	Tallapoosa	4.5	50		$10,000
February 17	2:03 PM CST	EF0	Clay	1.6	50		$10,000
February 17	2:17 PM CST	EF1	Coffee	1.2	100		$25,000
February 17	2:22 PM CST	EF1	Randolph	14.7	150		$100,000
February 17	2:23 PM CST	EF1	Pike	8.4	250		$60,000
February 17	2:24 PM CST	EF2	Lowndes	11.0	225	10	$215,000
February 17	2:58 PM CST	EF3	Autauga	14.7	440	50	$10 million
February 17	3:40 PM CST	EF2	Russell to GA	17.1	1,000	4	$140,000
February 17	4:17 PM CST	EF1	Barbour	21.4	75		$35,000
February 17	4:38 PM CST	EF0	Barbour	0.4	300		$6,000

February 26 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Damage
February 26	3:42 AM CST	EF1	Jefferson	2.8	500	1	$1.0 million
February 26	3:50 AM CST	EF1	Shelby	0.5	150		$50,000
February 26	4:00 AM CST	EF1	St. Clair	2.8	1,100		$250,000

March 4 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 4	12:49 AM CST	EF1	Greene	5.6	300			$150,000
March 4	12:50 AM CST	EF1	Tuscaloosa	0.8	200			$50,000

March 15 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 15	9:47 AM CDT	EF2	Blount	6.0	675			$960,000
March 15	10:50 AM CDT	EF2	Cherokee	3.6	50			$75,000

April 4 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 4	8:03 AM CDT	EF1	Colbert	6.5	20	$75,000
April 4	8:34 AM CDT	EF0	Limestone	0.3	25	$1,000
April 4	9:04 AM CDT	EF0	Limestone	1.6	20	$10,000
April 4	10:28 AM CDT	EF0	Winston	2.5	75	$10,000
April 4	3:24 PM CDT	EF0	Calhoun	0.1	50

April 11 8 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 11	1:46 PM CDT	EF0	Cullman	0.2	10	$2.0 million
April 11	2:06 PM CDT	EF0	Morgan	1.2	20
April 11	2:07 PM CDT	EF0	Madison	3.8	200	$10,000
April 11	2:16 PM CDT	EF0	Marshall	1.6	30	$2,000
April 11	2:33 PM CDT	EF0	Marshall	2.1	100	$10,000
April 11	3:05 PM CDT	EF0	Cullman	0.1	40	$5,000
April 11	4:08 PM CDT	EF0	Jefferson	0.1	30	$5,000
April 11	4:25 PM CDT	EF0	Jefferson	0.3	30	$50,000

May 8 8 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
May 8	11:57 AM CDT	EF1	Lauderdale	8.0	200	2	$300,000
May 8	12:39 PM CDT	EF2	Lauderdale	12.6	250		$555,000
May 8	1:06 PM CDT	EF1	Fayette	11.0	100		$45,000
May 8	2:00 PM CDT	EF1	Walker	3.3	600		$120,000
May 8	2:15 PM CDT	EF0	Morgan	0.9	50		$10,000
May 8	2:20 PM CDT	EF1	Cullman	3.3	100		$20,000
May 8	2:35 PM CDT	EF1	Limestone	4.0	250		$20,000
May 8	2:40 PM CDT	EF1	Cullman	6.6	100		$50,000

May 10 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 10	11:00 PM CDT	EF1	Lauderdale	1.6	250	$100,000
May 10	11:18 PM CDT	EF1	Marion	25.5	400	$100,000
May 10	11:59 PM CDT	EF1	Lauderdale	1.0	250	$5,000
May 10	12:27 AM CDT	EF1	Walker	9.3	400	$20,000
May 10	12:37 AM CDT	EF2	Walker	13.5	330	$155,000

May 11 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 11	2:36 AM CDT	EF1	Cleburne	3.8	1,000			$1.8 million
May 11	2:47 AM CDT	EF1	Cleburne	2.3	150			$50,000

May 15 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 15	12:17 PM CDT	EF0	Conecuh	15.0	100			$175,000

May 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 20	4:48 PM CDT	EF0	DeKalb	0.2	20			$1,000

August 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 18	10:05 AM CDT	EF0	Mobile	0.1	20			$5,000

August 24 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
August 24	2:07 PM CDT	EF0	Elmore	0.0	20
August 24	2:12 PM CDT	EF0	Coosa	0.0	20
August 24	6:24 PM CDT	EF0	Winston	0.1	20	$500

August 25 10 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
August 25	7:25 AM CDT	EF0	Lowndes	0.1	25	$2,000
August 25	8:18 AM CDT	EF0	Pike	0.5	75	$50,000
August 25	8:20 AM CDT	EF1	Dale	0.4	75	$30,000
August 25	10:56 AM CDT	EF1	St. Clair	3.4	100	$20,000
August 25	11:25 AM CDT	EF1	Blount	0.4	60	$10,000
August 25	12:06 PM CDT	EF2	Cleburne	0.4	400	$100,000
August 25	12:11 PM CDT	EF1	Calhoun	0.0	50	$10,000
August 25	12:19 PM CDT	EF1	Calhoun	1.1	250	$150,000
August 25	5:58 PM CDT	EF0	Pike	0.0	20	$2,000
August 25	7:26 PM CDT	EF1	Houston	0.2	50	$75,000

September 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 1	1:05 PM CDT	EF0	Baldwin	0.1	30			$20,000

October 8 9 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
October 8	5:30 AM CDT	EF0	Walker	0.5	40	$15,000
October 8	10:25 AM CDT	EF0	Covington	1.9	50	$50,000
October 8	11:54 AM CDT	EF1	Coffee	1.9	150	$4.0 million
October 8	12:15 PM CDT	EF0	Dale	1.1	75	$150,000
October 8	12:25 PM CDT	EF0	Dale	2.4	75	$50,000
October 8	1:05 PM CDT	EF0	Houston	4.0	75	$75,000
October 8	1:17 PM CDT	EF0	Dale	0.4	50
October 8	1:33 PM CDT	EF0	Henry	0.4	75	$75,000
October 8	3:19 PM CDT	EF0	Marion	0.0	20

December 10 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
December 10	12:43 AM CST	EF1	Walker	0.8	400	$215,000
December 10	1:01 AM CST	EF2	Walker	4.7	400	$100,000
December 10	1:02 AM CST	EF2	Jackson	4.5	300	$300,000
December 10	4:34 AM CST	EF1	St. Clair	3.9	300	$82,000

December 24 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
December 24	3:33 PM CST	EF1	Limestone	1.6	50			$200,000
December 24	4:32 PM CST	EF0	Walker	0.1	100			$5,000

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
January 10	2:09 PM CST	EF3	Lowndes, MS to AL	13.3	2,500		11	$7.1 million

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.