Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2008

EF0 tornado, Eldridge, Alabama, October 8, 2008

This EF0 tornado ran 0.5 miles across Walker County on October 8, 2008, touching down at 5:30 AM CDT and reaching 40 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $15,000 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.

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. 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.

  7. 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
October 8, 2008
Touchdown
5:30 AM CDT (10:30 UTC)
Lifted
5:31 AM CDT (10:31 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.5 miles (0.8 km)
Path width
40 yards (37 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$15,000
County
Walker County
Touchdown point
33.952, -87.576
Lift-off point
33.959, -87.574
Record number
0810080430-01

What the Weather Service recorded

An upper level trough and associated cold front moving through the southeastern states caused thunderstorms that produced isolated tornadoes in Central Alabama.

The tornado touched down near the intersection of Kendrick Road and Dogtown Road, and was on the ground for about a half mile. One chicken house was heavily damaged, two outbuildings suffered minor damage, and several trees were snapped off or uprooted.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:50 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

10.5 hours before the tornado, 113 km from the path. October 8, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2008-10-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 558 joules per kilogram, CIN -5, lifted condensation level 776 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
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.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2008-10-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 83 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 23 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
558 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Surface CAPE
461 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
776 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
83 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
158 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 12:00Z

1.5 hours after it, 113 km from the path. October 8, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2008-10-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 725 joules per kilogram, CIN -2, lifted condensation level 513 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
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.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2008-10-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 225 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 31 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
725 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Surface CAPE
270 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
513 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
225 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
243 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
3.3
0-3 km lapse rate
5.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Haleyville (1M4), 36 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
08:31 UTC69.866.2200° 12 kt171013.5
08:40 UTC69.866.2200° 11 kt1013.5
08:56 UTC6965.84190° 8 kt151013.5
09:03 UTC6866.2200° 8 kt1013.5
09:18 UTC6866.2200° 7 kt1013.2RA BR
09:22 UTC6866.2210° 7 kt1013.5+RA BR
09:28 UTC66.266.2230° 7 kt1013.5+RA BR
09:33 UTC66.266.2220° 7 kt1013.5+RA BR
09:38 UTC66.266.2210° 9 kt141013.2+RA FG
09:41 UTC66.266.2210° 9 kt141012.9+RA FG
09:46 UTC66.266.2210° 8 kt1013.2+TSRA FG
09:49 UTC66.266.2210° 7 kt1013.2+TSRA BR
09:56 UTC6765.84240° 8 kt1013.2+TSRA FG
10:11 UTC66.264.4220° 7 kt141013.2+RA BR
10:21 UTC66.264.4250° 8 kt1013.2+TSRA BR
10:33 UTC66.264.4260° 8 kt1012.9+TSRA BR
10:37 UTC66.264.4270° 7 kt1012.5+VCTSRA BR
10:43 UTC66.264.4240° 8 kt1012.9+VCTSRA BR
10:48 UTC66.264.4270° 6 kt1012.5+VCTSRA BR
10:56 UTC65.84650° 0 kt1012.2+TSRA BR
11:06 UTC66.264.4210° 7 kt1013.5+TSRA BR
11:23 UTC66.264.4 4 kt1013.5+VCTSRA BR
11:31 UTC66.264.4230° 4 kt1013.5+VCTSRA BR
11:41 UTC66.264.4250° 5 kt1013.5+VCTSRA BR
11:49 UTC66.264.4240° 6 kt1014.2+RA BR
11:56 UTC65.8465250° 9 kt1014.2+RA BR
12:05 UTC64.464.4260° 6 kt1013.2+RA BR
12:17 UTC64.464.4220° 5 kt1013.9+RA BR
12:28 UTC64.464.4340° 3 kt1013.5-RA BR

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 70 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 10:30 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)ReportWhereCountyRemark
10:30 UTCTORNADO5 Nnw Carbon HillWalker, ALA BRIEF TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF KENDRICK ROAD AND DOGTOWN ROAD. THE TORNADO HAS BEEN RATED AN EF0. ONE CHICKEN HOUSE SUSTAINED MAJOR DAMAGE, A FEW TREE TOPS WERE SNAPPED OFF, TWO OUTBUILDINGS SUFFER

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 October 8, 2008

11 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 88:23 AM CDTEF0Bay, FL3.5125$500,000
October 810:25 AM CDTEF0Covington, AL1.950$50,000
October 811:54 AM CDTEF1Coffee, AL1.9150$4.0 million
October 812:15 PM CDTEF0Dale, AL1.175$150,000
October 812:25 PM CDTEF0Dale, AL2.475$50,000
October 81:05 PM CDTEF0Houston, AL4.075$75,000
October 81:17 PM CDTEF0Dale, AL0.450
October 81:33 PM CDTEF0Henry, AL0.475$75,000
October 83:19 PM CDTEF0Marion, AL0.020
October 84:35 PM EDTEF0Fayette, GA0.150$125,000
October 85:24 PM EDTEF1Jefferson, FL0.875$10,000

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.