Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2008
EF0 tornado, Corcoran, Alabama, August 25, 2008
This EF0 tornado ran 0.5 miles across Pike County on August 25, 2008, touching down at 8:18 AM CDT and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50,000 of property damage.
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 mphthis tornado
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.
The record
- Rating
- EF0
- Date
- August 25, 2008
- Touchdown
- 8:18 AM CDT (13:18 UTC)
- Lifted
- 8:19 AM CDT (13:19 UTC)
- On the ground
- 1 minutes
- Path length
- 0.5 miles (0.7 km)
- Path width
- 75 yards (69 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $50,000
- County
- Pike County
- Touchdown point
- 31.850, -85.950
- Lift-off point
- 31.856, -85.947
- Record number
- 0808250718-01
What the Weather Service recorded
Tropical Storm Fay, and its remnants after landfall, brought high winds, heavy rain, and numerous tornadoes to Central Alabama.
The tornado touched down near the intersection of Needmore Road and County Road 7749. It then moved north-northeastward, roughly parallel to Needmore Road, for about a half mile before lifting. It produced minor damage to the roof of a home, destroyed one outbuilding, damaged the awning of a barn, caused extensive damage to two chicken houses, and snapped off about 15 hardwood trees. This tornado was associated with the remnants of Tropical Storm Fay.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
21 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 12:57 UTC, 21 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 13:30 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 12:29 UTC and running to 01:00 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06:10 UTC | 12:29 UTC | Tornado Watch | BMX |
| 12:00 UTC | 15:51 UTC | Flash Flood Watch | BMX |
| 12:29 UTC | 01:00 UTC | Tornado Watch | BMX |
| 12:57 UTC | 13:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | BMX |
| 18:30 UTC | 19:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | BMX |
| 22:45 UTC | 23:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | BMX |
| 04:28 UTC | 07:30 UTC | Flood Advisory | BMX |
Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.
The forecast that day
The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 12:49 UTC.
SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.
The surface observations
Troy Municipal (TOI), 6 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11:44 UTC | 75.2 | 73.4 | 100° 7 kt | 1010.2 | -RA BR | |
| 11:53 UTC | 76 | 73 | 110° 6 kt | 1010.2 | -RA BR | |
| 12:20 UTC | 75.2 | 73.4 | 100° 9 kt | 1010.2 | -RA BR | |
| 12:35 UTC | 75.2 | 73.4 | 110° 9 kt | 1010.5 | -RA BR | |
| 12:43 UTC | 75.2 | 73.4 | 120° 10 kt | 1010.5 | -RA BR | |
| 12:50 UTC | 75.2 | 73.4 | 110° 9 kt | 1010.5 | RA BR | |
| 12:53 UTC | 76 | 73 | 120° 8 kt | 1010.5 | RA BR | |
| 13:02 UTC | 75.2 | 73.4 | 130° 12 kt | 23 | 1010.8 | +RA BR |
| 13:07 UTC | 73.4 | 71.6 | 130° 17 kt | 27 | 1010.5 | +RA BR |
| 13:15 UTC | 75.2 | 71.6 | 160° 7 kt | 16 | 1010.8 | RA BR |
| 13:23 UTC | 75.2 | 71.6 | 210° 10 kt | 1010.8 | -RA BR | |
| 13:35 UTC | 73.4 | 71.6 | 190° 6 kt | 1011.2 | RA BR | |
| 13:40 UTC | 73.4 | 71.6 | 160° 4 kt | 1010.8 | -RA BR | |
| 13:53 UTC | 74 | 70 | 150° 7 kt | 1010.5 | -RA | |
| 14:46 UTC | 73.4 | 69.8 | 140° 9 kt | 1010.5 | -RA | |
| 14:53 UTC | 73 | 69 | 140° 12 kt | 1010.5 | -RA |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
What was reported nearby
Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 9 Se Hayneville | Lowndes, AL | HALF DOZEN TREES SNAPPED OFF BETWEEN MILE MARKER 154 AND 155 ON INTERSTATE 65. |
| 12:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Highland Home | Crenshaw, AL | TREES DOWN |
| 13:05 UTC | TORNADO | Troy | Pike, AL | UNCONFIRMED TORNADO DAMAGE TROY STATE CAMPUS AND ON NEEDMORE ROAD. REPORTED 0845 |
| 13:20 UTC | TORNADO | 4 W Skipperville | Dale, AL | POSSIBLE TORNADO REPORTED NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF COUNTY ROAD 19 AND COUNTY ROAD 15 IN NORTH CENTRAL DALE COUNTY. SEVERAL TREES DOWN AND A BARN DAMAGED. TIME ESTIMATE OF 820 AM CDT BY RADAR. |
| 13:22 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 4 Ne Troy | Pike, AL | CAUSED MINOR ROOF DAMAGE TO HOME AND AN OUTBUILDING DESTROYED NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF NEEDMORE ROAD AND PIKE COUNTY ROAD 7749. |
| 13:22 UTC | TORNADO | 4 Ne Troy | Pike, AL | FO TORNADO CAUSED MINOR ROOF DAMAGE TO HOME AND AN OUTBUILDING DESTROYED. |
| 13:25 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 4 Ne Troy | Pike, AL | MINOR TO MAJOR DAMAGE TO TWO CHICKEN COOPS. A FEW HARDWOOD TREES ALSO SNAPPED ALOFT JUST NORTH OF THE INTERSECTION OF NEEDMORE ROAD AND PIKE COUNTY ROAD 7749. |
| 13:25 UTC | TORNADO | 4 Ne Troy | Pike, AL | F0 TORNADO CAUSED MINOR TO MAJOR DAMAGE TO TWO CHICKEN COOPS. A FEW HARDWOOD TRESS SNAPPED ALOFT. |
| 13:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Louisville | Barbour, AL | TREES DOWN IN THE CITY OF LOUISVILLE. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2008 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of August 25, 2008
11 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 25 | 7:25 AM CDT | EF0 | Lowndes, AL | 0.1 | 25 | $2,000 | ||
| August 25 | 8:20 AM CDT | EF1 | Dale, AL | 0.4 | 75 | $30,000 | ||
| August 25 | 10:56 AM CDT | EF1 | St. Clair, AL | 3.4 | 100 | $20,000 | ||
| August 25 | 11:25 AM CDT | EF1 | Blount, AL | 0.4 | 60 | $10,000 | ||
| August 25 | 12:06 PM CDT | EF2 | Cleburne, AL | 0.4 | 400 | $100,000 | ||
| August 25 | 12:11 PM CDT | EF1 | Calhoun, AL | 0.0 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| August 25 | 12:19 PM CDT | EF1 | Calhoun, AL | 1.1 | 250 | $150,000 | ||
| August 25 | 5:26 PM CDT | EF0 | Jackson, FL | 0.2 | 50 | |||
| August 25 | 5:58 PM CDT | EF0 | Pike, AL | 0.0 | 20 | $2,000 | ||
| August 25 | 7:26 PM CDT | EF1 | Houston, AL | 0.2 | 50 | $75,000 | ||
| August 25 | 10:02 PM EDT | EF0 | Miller, GA | 0.9 | 75 | $75,000 |
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.