Tornadoes · United States · Alabama

2016 tornadoes in Alabama

63 tornadoes touched down in Alabama in 2016, 79 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 4 people and injured 18.

2015 2017 The whole country in 2016

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 mph

    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.

Every tornado in Alabama in 2016

February 2 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 24:34 PM CSTEF2Pickens26.21,2001
February 25:36 PM CSTEF1Fayette6.1500
February 28:10 PM CSTEF1Lamar4.1400
February 211:02 PM CSTEF0Pickens4.21,400

February 15 6 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 154:00 PM CSTEF0Montgomery2.575
February 154:33 PM CSTEF2Conecuh2.2250$750,000
February 155:00 PM CSTEF1Covington4.5501$100,000
February 156:20 PM CSTEF1Pike5.0400
February 156:57 PM CSTEF1Russell6.8400
February 157:00 PM CSTEF0Russell7.1250

February 23 9 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 234:22 PM CSTEF0Pickens4.8150
February 236:01 PM CSTEF1Marion2.2300
February 2310:15 PM CSTEF0Houston2.8200$50,000
February 2310:24 PM CSTEF1Dale4.8200
February 2310:31 PM CSTEF1Houston1.6350$50,000
February 2310:34 PM CSTEF1Houston3.7900$75,000
February 2310:38 PM CSTEF1Henry1.1300$50,000
February 2310:54 PM CSTEF0Henry0.4100
February 2311:02 PM CSTEF1Henry0.5150

February 24 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 244:04 AM CSTEF0Shelby1.180

March 1 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 15:43 PM CSTEF2Jefferson5.64654
March 16:42 PM CSTEF0Talladega3.080
March 18:27 PM CSTEF0Lee3.1100

March 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 36:36 PM CSTEF1Escambia0.125$15,000

March 24 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 242:30 PM CDTEF0Butler0.450$8,000

March 31 7 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 316:43 PM CDTEF1Pickens2.9350
March 317:03 PM CDTEF1Fayette3.7650
March 317:27 PM CDTEF1Fayette3.7500
March 318:05 PM CDTEF0Fayette1.9400
March 319:42 PM CDTEF1Blount0.3275
March 319:54 PM CDTEF2Morgan9.6200
March 3112:19 AM CDTEF0Lee2.150

April 6 9 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 610:55 PM CDTEF0Montgomery6.0250
April 611:18 PM CDTEF0Bullock3.0300
April 611:24 PM CDTEF0Montgomery0.850
April 611:32 PM CDTEF0Lee0.7250
April 611:44 PM CDTEF0Lee4.7200
April 611:54 PM CDTEF2Bullock7.7250
April 611:57 PM CDTEF1Russell7.5200
April 612:16 AM CDTEF0Barbour5.4200
April 612:22 AM CDTEF0Russell1.375

August 19 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 1911:50 PM CDTUnratedLimestone0.150

November 29 14 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 297:05 PM CSTEF2Franklin10.91003
November 297:15 PM CSTEF1Pickens5.3600
November 297:29 PM CSTEF0Marion10.6150
November 298:04 PM CSTEF1Winston0.4100
November 298:06 PM CSTEF0Fayette0.350
November 298:06 PM CSTEF2Winston3.2300
November 298:40 PM CSTEF3Morgan6.2175
November 298:52 PM CSTEF2Winston9.51,000
November 299:29 PM CSTEF2Madison19.9150
November 2910:02 PM CSTEF1Jackson0.940
November 2910:20 PM CSTEF1Winston3.1100
November 2911:00 PM CSTEF1Jackson2.3150
November 2911:05 PM CSTEF1Marshall1.250
November 2911:40 PM CSTEF1Lamar9.7600

November 30 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 3012:01 AM CSTEF1Marion16.9900
November 3012:02 AM CSTEF3Jackson13.520649
November 302:11 AM CSTEF0Jackson3.430
November 305:10 AM CSTEF1Marengo12.9250
November 3012:35 PM CSTEF1Lee3.2300

December 17 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 1711:37 PM CSTEF0Colbert0.687

December 18 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 1812:42 AM CSTEF0Franklin1.075

Crossed into Alabama

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Alabama. They are counted under the state they began in.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 153:32 PM CSTEF3Escambia, FL to AL16.43003$5.8 million
March 316:18 PM CDTEF1Lowndes, MS to AL7.8600$225,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in AlabamaThe live radar over Alabama

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.