Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2008
EF1 tornado, Marigold to Dilworth, Alabama, May 10, 2008
From Marigold to Dilworth, this EF1 tornado ran 9.3 miles across Walker County on May 10, 2008, touching down at 12:27 AM CDT and reaching 400 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $20,000 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
- May 10, 2008
- Touchdown
- 12:27 AM CDT (05:27 UTC)
- Lifted
- 12:39 AM CDT (05:39 UTC)
- On the ground
- 12 minutes
- Path length
- 9.3 miles (14.9 km)
- Path width
- 400 yards (366 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $20,000
- County
- Walker County
- Touchdown point
- 33.943, -87.247
- Lift-off point
- 33.902, -87.093
- Record number
- 0805102327-01
What the Weather Service recorded
A strengthening low pressure system, and associated cold front, caused numerous severe thunderstorms and several tornadoes across Central Alabama.
The tornado touched down near the intersection of Birdfarm Road and Snow Lake Road, and then moved southeast, crossing SR-257 and SR-69, before lifting near the Cullman County line. The tornado affected areas near the Sunlight Community, the Burrows Crossroads Community, and the Powellville Community. Numerous trees were either snapped off or uprooted along the path. Several structures suffered varying degrees of damage.
The tornado touched down east of CR-77 near the intersection of Gravlee Junction Road and CR-15. The tornado then tracked northeast and entered Cullman County near the intersection of CR-17 and CR-19. The tornado appeared to have caused only minor tree damage in Walker County.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
1 minute of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 05:26 UTC, 1 minute before the tornado touched down, in force until 05:57 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 00:08 UTC and running to 07:00 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00:08 UTC | 07:00 UTC | Tornado Watch | BMX |
| 03:55 UTC | 05:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX |
| 04:54 UTC | 05:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX |
| 04:58 UTC | 05:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX |
| 05:01 UTC | 08:00 UTC | Flood Advisory | BMX |
| 05:21 UTC | 06:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX |
| 05:26 UTC | 05:57 UTC | Tornado Warning | BMX |
| 05:38 UTC | 06:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX |
| 05:51 UTC | 06:04 UTC | Tornado Warning | BMX |
| 05:59 UTC | 06:28 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX |
| 06:29 UTC | 07:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX |
| 06:37 UTC | 09:30 UTC | Flood Advisory | BMX |
| 07:31 UTC | 09:27 UTC | Tornado Watch | BMX |
| 15:00 UTC | 00:00 UTC | Wind 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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 00:56 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 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.
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 00:00Z
5.5 hours before the tornado, 90 km from the path. May 11, 2008.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2301 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -22 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 2725 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 691 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 59 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 16 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 136 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 163 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.5
- Supercell composite
- 5.5
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.7 K/km
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 12:00Z
6.5 hours after it, 90 km from the path. May 11, 2008.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -58639 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 109 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1022 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 70 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 36 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -21 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 156 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.4
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.3 K/km
The surface observations
Cullman/Folsom_field_arpt (3A1), 48 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03:40 UTC | 71.6 | 68 | 120° 6 kt | 1006.4 | ||
| 04:00 UTC | 71.6 | 68 | 150° 5 kt | 1006.4 | TS | |
| 04:20 UTC | 71.6 | 69.8 | 170° 4 kt | 1007.1 | -RA | |
| 04:40 UTC | 69.8 | 68 | 150° 4 kt | 1006.8 | -VCTSRA | |
| 05:00 UTC | 69.8 | 68 | 130° 4 kt | 1005.8 | -TSRA | |
| 05:20 UTC | 69.8 | 68 | 140° 5 kt | 1005.1 | -TSRA | |
| 06:01 UTC | 66.2 | 64.4 | 260° 9 kt | 20 | 1008.1 | +TSRA |
| 06:20 UTC | 64.4 | 62.6 | 70° 4 kt | 1006.4 | +TSRA | |
| 06:21 UTC | 64.4 | 62.6 | 0° 0 kt | 1006.4 | +RA | |
| 06:40 UTC | 64.4 | 62.6 | 100° 4 kt | 1005.8 | VCTSRA | |
| 07:00 UTC | 64.4 | 62.6 | 0° 0 kt | 1005.4 | RA | |
| 07:20 UTC | 64.4 | 62.6 | 130° 4 kt | 1004.7 | VCTSRA |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 91 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:25 UTC.
Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track
Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04:45 UTC | TORNADO 2 | 3 W Arkadelphia | Cullman, AL | PRELIMINARY STORM SURVEY FROM A NWS TEAM FOUND DAMAGE FROM AN EF2 TORNADO FROM ARKADELPHIA TO COLONY. IN FACT...SEVERAL DEBRIS PATHS WERE SEEN ACROSS SOUTHERN CULLMAN COUNTY. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE OCCURRED ALONG HI |
| 04:50 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Double Springs | Winston, AL | MINOR ROOF DAMAGE AT DOUBLE SPRINGS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. |
| 04:58 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | Bear Creek | Marion, AL | HAM RADIO OPERATOR REPORTED 60 MPH WIND GUST NEAR BEAR CREEK. |
| 05:06 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 5 N Haleyville | Winston, AL | DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED 5 MILES NORTH OF HALEYVILLE ON FRANKLIN/WINSTON COUNTY LINE. |
| 05:06 UTC | HAIL 0.5 | 7 Ese Phil Campbell | Franklin, AL | DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED 5 MILES NORTH OF HALEYVILLE. |
| 05:06 UTC | HAIL 0.5 | 8 Ese Phil Campbell | Winston, AL | DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED 5 MILES NORTH OF HALEYVILLE. |
| 05:20 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 S Moulton | Lawrence, AL | LARGE TREE REPORTED DOWN ON COUNTY ROAD 170, 2 MILES OFF OF COUNTY ROAD 157. |
| 05:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Curry | Walker, AL | NUMEROUS TREES DOWN. POSSIBLE TORNADO. |
| 05:30 UTC | TORNADO 1 | 2 Nne Blackwater Creek | Walker, AL | NUMEROUS TREES WERE EITHER SNAPPED OFF OR UPROOTED ALONG THE PATH. SEVERAL STRUCTURES SUFFERED VARYING DEGREES OF DAMAGE. DAMAGE PATH BEGAN NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF BIRDFARM ROAD AND SNOW LAKE ROAD AND ENDED NEAR THE CUL |
| 05:37 UTC | TORNADO | 4 Nne Sipsey | Walker, AL | THE TORNADO APPEARED TO HAVE CAUSED ONLY ONLY MINOR TREE DAMAGE IN WALKER COUNTY. THIS STORM STREGTHENED AND PRODUCED SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE IN CULLMAN COUNTY. THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN EAST OF COUNTY ROAD 77 NEAR THE INTERSE |
| 05:38 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Double Springs | Winston, AL | STRUCTURAL DAMAGE REPORTED IN DOUBLE SPRINGS. |
| 05:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 W Cullman | Cullman, AL | POWER OUTAGES REPORTED WEST OF CULLMAN IN THE BETHEL COMMUNITY. |
| 05:40 UTC | HAIL 1 | Bremen | Cullman, AL | QUARTER SIZE HAIL REPORTED IN BREMEN |
| 05:41 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Jasper | Walker, AL | TREE DOWN AND POWER OUTAGES AT 1911 BENNET ROAD IN JASPER. |
| 05:41 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 5 Ene Jasper | Walker, AL | DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED IN BOLDO. |
| 05:50 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Ene Jasper | Walker, AL | TREES DOWN AND POWER OUTAGES IN BOLDO. |
| 05:50 UTC | HAIL 0.5 | 11 Ssw Cullman | Cullman, AL | DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED IN THE DODGE CITY COMMUNITY. |
| 05:56 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 W Eva | Morgan, AL | POWER OUTAGES REPORTED ALONG HIGHWAY 55...3 MILES WEST OF EVA. |
| 06:01 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 S Good Hope | Cullman, AL | TREES DOWN AND DAMAGED CARS AT INTERSTATE 65 EXIT 299. |
| 06:05 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 N Colony | Cullman, AL | TREES DOWN ON INTERSTATE 65 AT MILE MARKER 295. |
| 06:05 UTC | TORNADO 2 | 4 E Bremen | Cullman, AL | PRELIMINARY STORM SURVEY FROM A NWS TEAM FOUND DAMAGE FROM AN EF2 TORNADO FROM ARKADELPHIA TO COLONY. IN FACT...SEVERAL DEBRIS PATHS WERE SEEN ACROSS SOUTHERN CULLMAN COUNTY. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE OCCURRED ALONG HI |
| 06:36 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Sw Hayden | Blount, AL | TREE BLOCKING BOTH LANES AT MILE MARKER 9 ON HIGHWAY 160. |
| 06:36 UTC | FLOOD | Oneonta | Blount, AL | ONEONTA FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTS SIGNIFICANT STREET FLOODING. |
| 06:42 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Allgood | Blount, AL | HAM OPERATOR REPORTED FLASH FLOODING 1 MILE WEST OF HIGHWAY 75 IN ALLGOOD. |
| 06:53 UTC | HAIL 0.25 | Berry | Fayette, AL | PEA SIZE HAIL REPORTED IN BERRY. |
| 07:03 UTC | FLOOD | Center Point | Jefferson, AL | HAM RADIO REPORTS STREET FLOODING AT CENTER POINT ROAD AND 23RD AVENUE NE |
| 07:10 UTC | FLOOD | Oneonta | Blount, AL | HAM RADIO REPORTS FLOODING IN DOWNTOWN ONEONTA AT THE DANIEL AND HOMETOWN SHOPPING CENTER. |
| 07:54 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 N Natural Bridge | Winston, AL | TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ON COUNTY ROAD 17 BETWEEN US 278 AND STATE HIGHWAY 13. |
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 May 10, 2008
36 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 10 | 1:28 PM CDT | EF0 | Washington, AR | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 10 | 5:03 PM CDT | EF2 | Pittsburg, OK | 8.2 | 200 | $500,000 | ||
| May 10 | 5:15 PM CDT | EF0 | Labette, KS | 0.3 | 50 | |||
| May 10 | 5:19 PM CDT | EF0 | McIntosh, OK | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 10 | 5:19 PM CDT | EF0 | Labette, KS | 1.0 | 60 | |||
| May 10 | 5:19 PM CDT | EF0 | Cherokee, KS | 2.0 | 150 | $10,000 | ||
| May 10 | 5:20 PM CDT | EF4 | Picher–Neosho tornado, Oklahoma and Missouri | 75.5 | 1,760 | 21 | 350 | $61 million |
| May 10 | 5:21 PM CDT | EF0 | Pittsburg, OK | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 10 | 5:25 PM CDT | EF0 | Pittsburg, OK | 0.5 | 75 | |||
| May 10 | 5:25 PM CDT | EF0 | Mayes, OK | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 10 | 5:34 PM CDT | EF0 | Latimer, OK | 5.5 | 100 | |||
| May 10 | 5:42 PM CDT | EF2 | Pittsburg, OK | 19.0 | 580 | 4 | $1.2 million | |
| May 10 | 5:48 PM CDT | EF1 | Ottawa, OK | 2.3 | 200 | |||
| May 10 | 6:05 PM CDT | EF2 | Pushmataha, OK | 3.5 | 100 | $75,000 | ||
| May 10 | 6:08 PM CDT | EF1 | Jasper, MO | 3.0 | 440 | 1 | 10 | $1.0 million |
| May 10 | 6:30 PM CDT | EF1 | Pushmataha, OK | 1.5 | 200 | |||
| May 10 | 6:35 PM CDT | EF1 | Pushmataha, OK | 0.5 | 100 | |||
| May 10 | 6:35 PM CDT | EF1 | Benton, AR | 1.5 | 100 | $100,000 | ||
| May 10 | 6:58 PM CDT | EF0 | Barry, MO | 3.8 | 800 | |||
| May 10 | 7:05 PM CDT | EF0 | McCurtain, OK | 0.4 | 50 | |||
| May 10 | 7:14 PM CDT | EF1 | White, AR | 9.2 | 350 | $25,000 | ||
| May 10 | 7:42 PM CDT | EF0 | White, AR | 0.0 | 8 | |||
| May 10 | 7:47 PM CDT | EF1 | Lonoke, AR | 2.7 | 400 | |||
| May 10 | 7:51 PM CDT | EF0 | Franklin, AR | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 10 | 7:55 PM CDT | EF1 | Sevier, AR | 1.5 | 100 | $250,000 | ||
| May 10 | 7:57 PM CDT | EF1 | Woodruff, AR | 10.2 | 500 | $90,000 | ||
| May 10 | 7:57 PM CDT | EF3 | Arkansas, AR | 14.1 | 1,320 | 9 | $75 million | |
| May 10 | 8:26 PM CDT | EF1 | Monroe, AR | 4.4 | 700 | $25,000 | ||
| May 10 | 9:04 PM CDT | EF0 | Hempstead, AR | 1.0 | 50 | $5,000 | ||
| May 10 | 9:32 PM CDT | EF1 | Nevada, AR | 2.4 | 50 | |||
| May 10 | 9:33 PM CDT | EF1 | Quitman, MS | 0.3 | 30 | $25,000 | ||
| May 10 | 10:15 PM CDT | EF1 | Tallahatchie, MS | 8.7 | 100 | 2 | $185,000 | |
| May 10 | 11:00 PM CDT | EF1 | Lauderdale, AL | 1.6 | 250 | $100,000 | ||
| May 10 | 11:18 PM CDT | EF1 | Marion, AL | 25.5 | 400 | $100,000 | ||
| May 10 | 11:59 PM CDT | EF1 | Lauderdale, AL | 1.0 | 250 | $5,000 | ||
| May 10 | 12:37 AM CDT | EF2 | Walker, AL | 13.5 | 330 | $155,000 |
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.