Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2008

EF2 tornado, Marigold to Garden City, Alabama, May 10, 2008

Name: EF2 tornado, Marigold to Garden City, Alabama, May 10, 2008
Start: 2008-05-11T05:37:00.000Z
End: 2008-05-11T05:59:00.000Z
Location: Marigold to Garden City, Alabama

From Marigold to Garden City, this EF2 tornado ran 13.5 miles across Walker and Cullman counties on May 10, 2008, touching down at 12:37 AM CDT and reaching 330 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $155,000 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 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 mphthis tornado
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: EF2
Date: May 10, 2008
Touchdown: 12:37 AM CDT (05:37 UTC)
Lifted: 12:59 AM CDT (05:59 UTC)
On the ground: 22 minutes
Path length: 13.5 miles (21.7 km)
Path width: 330 yards (302 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $155,000
Counties: Walker and Cullman counties
Touchdown point: 33.875, -87.063
Lift-off point: 33.952, -86.846
Record number: 0805102337-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A strengthening low pressure system, and associated cold front, caused numerous severe thunderstorms and several tornadoes across Central Alabama.

A complex of severe thunderstorms produced wind damage and isolated tornadoes in a moist unstable environment near the junction of a warm front and approaching cold front. The tornadic circulations were embedded within the linear segments of the line of thunderstorms that moved through the area. Swaths of wind damage were reported, particularly along interstate 65 between mile markers 295 and 299 near Dodge City.

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.

A tornado moved across far southern Cullman County. Several debris paths were found during this storm survey. The most significant damage with peak wind speeds of 120 mph occurred along Highway 91 in the vicinity of the town of Colony. Four chicken houses were either severely damaged or destroyed and numerous large trees were snapped or uprooted. Significant tree damage was found in the vicinity of Arkadelphia along County Roads 8 and 35. Spotty lighter damage was found near the end of the tornado's path just east of Interstate 65 near Black Bottom.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

11 minutes of warning. NWS BMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 05:26 UTC, 11 minutes 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

5.6 hours before the tornado, 83 km from the path. May 11, 2008.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.

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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 12:00Z

6.4 hours after it, 83 km from the path. May 11, 2008.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.

Hodograph

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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Cullman/Folsom_field_arpt (3A1), 41 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), 84 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:34 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.
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.
05:47 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Somerville	Morgan, AL	TREES BLOWN DOWN IN THE SOMERVILLE COMMUNITY.
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	TSTM WND DMG	2 N Inverness	Shelby, AL	SEVERAL TREES DOWN AND A POWER LINE.
07:10 UTC	FLOOD	Oneonta	Blount, AL	HAM RADIO REPORTS FLOODING IN DOWNTOWN ONEONTA AT THE DANIEL AND HOMETOWN SHOPPING CENTER.
07:13 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	3 Ne Caldwell	St. Clair, AL	ONE TREE DOWN ON INTERSTATE 59 SOUTHBOUND AT MILE MARKER 163.
07:47 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 Ne Caldwell	St. Clair, AL	TREES DOWN ON I-59 SOUTHBOUND BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 165-166.
07:47 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Ashville	St. Clair, AL	TREES DOWN ON GREENSPORT ROAD IN ASHVILLE
07:47 UTC	FLOOD	Moody	St. Clair, AL	FLOODING REPORTED ON HIGHWAY 411 SOUTH END IN MOODY.
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 track Every 2008 tornado in Alabama Every tornado in Alabama since 1950 Warnings in force in Alabama now The 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	12:27 AM CDT	EF1	Walker, AL	9.3	400			$20,000

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.