Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2008
EF1 tornado, Jack to Bluff Spgs, Alabama, February 17, 2008
From Jack to Bluff Spgs, this EF1 tornado ran 1.2 miles across Coffee County on February 17, 2008, touching down at 2:17 PM CST and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $25,000 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 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
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
- EF1
- Date
- February 17, 2008
- Touchdown
- 2:17 PM CST (20:17 UTC)
- Lifted
- 2:19 PM CST (20:19 UTC)
- On the ground
- 2 minutes
- Path length
- 1.2 miles (1.9 km)
- Path width
- 100 yards (91 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $25,000
- County
- Coffee County
- Touchdown point
- 31.578, -86.099
- Lift-off point
- 31.591, -86.085
- Record number
- 0802171417-01
What the Weather Service recorded
Severe thunderstorms produced numerous reports of damaging wind and one tornado across southeast Alabama.
The parent supercell thunderstorm, which spawned the EF-1 tornado, tracked across the northwest corner of Coffee County from southeast Crenshaw County. The tornado lifted the roofs off two barns, and partially removed the roof off a single family home before entering Pike County (see Storm Data for Alabama, Central, for more information).
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
41 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:36 UTC, 41 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:30 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:46 UTC and running to 02:00 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15:23 UTC | 00:00 UTC | Lake Wind Advisory | TAE |
| 18:46 UTC | 02:00 UTC | Tornado Watch | TAE |
| 19:36 UTC | 20:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | TAE |
| 21:19 UTC | 22:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE |
| 21:52 UTC | 22:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | TAE |
| 22:11 UTC | 23:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE |
| 22:22 UTC | 23:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE |
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 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 19:42 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18:43 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Se Goshen | Pike, AL | POSSIBLE TORNADO...ROAD DAMAGE REPORTED IN HENDERSON. |
| 19:41 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Gantt | Covington, AL | TREES DOWN ON US 29. POSSIBLE TORNADO |
| 19:58 UTC | HAIL 1 | Dozier | Crenshaw, AL | |
| 20:00 UTC | TORNADO | Dozier | Crenshaw, AL | TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN |
| 20:10 UTC | HAIL 1 | 1 N Dozier | Crenshaw, AL | |
| 20:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Se Goshen | Pike, AL | POSSIBLE TORNADO...ROAD DAMAGE REPORTED IN HENDERSON. |
| 20:17 UTC | TORNADO | 5 Wnw Jack | Coffee, AL | TORNADO TRACKED ACROSS FAR NORTHWESTERN COFFEE COUNTY. ROOFS REMOVED FROM TWO BARNS WITH A ROOF ON A SINGLE FAMILY HOME PARTIALLY REMOVED. DAMAGE RATED BY STORM SURVEY AS AN EF-1 TORNADO WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF 95 MPH. PAT |
| 20:23 UTC | TORNADO 1 | 12 S Troy | Pike, AL | THE BEGINNING POINT OF THIS TORNADO HAS YET TO BE DETERMINED IN SOUTH ALABAMA. THE TORNADO ENTERED SOUTHERN PIKE COUNTY SOUTHWEST OF HENDERSON. THE TORNADO ENDED NEAR CR 6 AND CR 57. AT LEAST ONE HOME AND ONE CHURCH WERE |
| 20:30 UTC | TORNADO | 8 S Troy | Pike, AL | POSSIBLE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN IN SPRING HILL. |
| 21:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Nw Luverne | Crenshaw, AL | ROOF OFF OF BUSINESS NEAR INTERSECTION OF HWY 10 AND HWY 331...ABOUT 2 MILES NORTHWEST OF LUVERNE. EVENT TIME ESTIMATED. |
| 21:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 8 Wnw Luverne | Crenshaw, AL | ROOF DAMAGE TO CHURCH. LOCATION IS ROUGHLY 6 MILES WEST OF INTERSECTION OF HWY 10 AND HWY 331 ON QUAIL TOWER ROAD. EVENT TIME ESTIMATED. |
| 21:40 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | Opp | Covington, AL | TWO FUNNEL CLOUDS...GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL, |
| 21:48 UTC | TORNADO | Babbie | Covington, AL | |
| 21:51 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Elba | Coffee, AL | 1962 CR 208 SHED DESTROYED...FEMALE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING IN NEW BROCKTON...4 CHICKEN HOUSES AND A RESIDENCE DESTROYED...TREE ON RESIDENCE ON CR 208 |
| 21:56 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Ne Victoria | Coffee, AL | BARN DESTROYED AND BLOWN ON TO ROAD |
| 21:58 UTC | TORNADO | Onycha | Covington, AL | PUBLIC REPORT OF A TORNADO |
| 22:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 6 Ene Jack | Coffee, AL | TREES DOWN. ROOF DAMAGE TO SHED. |
| 22:01 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 6 Ene Jack | Coffee, AL | TREES DOWN. ROOF DAMAGE TO SHED. |
| 22:06 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Roeton | Coffee, AL | NUMEROUS POLES DOWN. TREE DOWN ON CR 315 TREE FELL ON RESIDENCE CR 110 |
| 22:11 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Ariton | Dale, AL | 1 BARN DESTROYED. 1 RESIDENCE HEAVILY DAMAGED. |
| 22:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Ne Victoria | Coffee, AL | BARN DESTROYED AND BLOWN ON TO ROAD |
| 22:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Elba | Coffee, AL | 1962 CR 208 SHED DESTROYED...FEMALE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING IN NEW BROCKTON...4 CHICKEN HOUSES AND A RESIDENCE DESTROYED...TREE ON RESIDENCE ON CR 208 |
| 22:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Roeton | Coffee, AL | 1 BARN DESTROYED ON COUNTY ROAD 104 |
| 22:20 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Ariton | Dale, AL | 1 BARN DESTROYED. 1 RESIDENCE HEAVILY DAMAGED. |
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 February 17, 2008
25 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 17 | 12:00 AM CST | EF1 | Barbour, AL | 2.3 | 50 | $75,000 | ||
| February 17 | 1:30 AM CST | EF1 | Saint Landry Parish, LA | 5.6 | 125 | $125,000 | ||
| February 17 | 3:42 AM CST | EF1 | Saint Helena Parish, LA | 0.3 | 15 | $30,000 | ||
| February 17 | 3:55 AM CST | EF1 | Tangipahoa Parish, LA | 2.0 | 15 | $15,000 | ||
| February 17 | 4:25 AM CST | EF0 | Washington Parish, LA | 0.1 | 15 | $8,000 | ||
| February 17 | 5:05 AM CST | EF0 | Washington Parish, LA | 0.3 | 15 | $20,000 | ||
| February 17 | 11:59 AM CST | EF1 | Escambia, FL | 5.1 | 200 | $750,000 | ||
| February 17 | 12:14 PM CST | EF1 | Santa Rosa, FL | 2.1 | 75 | $200,000 | ||
| February 17 | 12:26 PM CST | EF2 | Dallas, AL | 7.6 | 400 | $350,000 | ||
| February 17 | 1:04 PM CST | EF2 | Escambia, AL | 14.4 | 500 | $950,000 | ||
| February 17 | 1:05 PM CST | EF1 | Chilton, AL | 1.2 | 200 | $150,000 | ||
| February 17 | 1:42 PM CST | EF1 | Coosa, AL | 10.8 | 100 | $105,000 | ||
| February 17 | 1:47 PM CST | EF0 | Tallapoosa, AL | 4.5 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| February 17 | 2:03 PM CST | EF0 | Clay, AL | 1.6 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| February 17 | 2:22 PM CST | EF1 | Randolph, AL | 14.7 | 150 | $100,000 | ||
| February 17 | 2:23 PM CST | EF1 | Pike, AL | 8.4 | 250 | $60,000 | ||
| February 17 | 2:24 PM CST | EF2 | Lowndes, AL | 11.0 | 225 | 10 | $215,000 | |
| February 17 | 3:52 PM EST | EF1 | Carroll, GA | 4.0 | 150 | $150,000 | ||
| February 17 | 2:58 PM CST | EF3 | Autauga, AL | 14.7 | 440 | 50 | $10 million | |
| February 17 | 3:40 PM CST | EF2 | Russell, AL to GA | 17.1 | 1,000 | 4 | $140,000 | |
| February 17 | 5:05 PM EST | EF0 | Chattahoochee, GA | 48.5 | 100 | $310,000 | ||
| February 17 | 4:17 PM CST | EF1 | Barbour, AL | 21.4 | 75 | $35,000 | ||
| February 17 | 4:38 PM CST | EF0 | Barbour, AL | 0.4 | 300 | $6,000 | ||
| February 17 | 6:18 PM EST | EF1 | Crawford, GA | 10.0 | 250 | 8 | $550,000 | |
| February 17 | 7:01 PM EST | EF0 | Jones, GA | 2.4 | 50 | $50,000 |
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.