Tornadoes · United States · Alabama

2018 tornadoes in Alabama

44 tornadoes touched down in Alabama in 2018, 25 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2017 2019 The whole country in 2018

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 2018

February 7 6 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 75:11 AM CSTEF0Sumter2.0150
February 75:44 AM CSTEF1Marengo11.41,100
February 75:51 AM CSTEF0Bibb0.750
February 76:03 AM CSTEF0Chilton2.5300
February 77:04 AM CSTEF0Autauga2.0150
February 77:16 AM CSTEF0Marengo0.8100

February 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 105:18 PM CSTEF0Washington0.2100$10,000

February 28 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 284:46 PM CSTEF0Cullman1.3100

March 19 16 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 195:05 PM CDTEF0Colbert3.9120
March 195:10 PM CDTEF1Franklin1.2100
March 195:21 PM CDTEF1Franklin2.0200
March 195:54 PM CDTEF0Lawrence1.2250
March 196:08 PM CDTEF2Limestone23.5600
March 196:18 PM CDTEF1Lawrence6.8100
March 196:29 PM CDTEF1Morgan14.0550
March 196:30 PM CDTEF1Jackson0.5200
March 196:58 PM CDTEF1Madison4.8150
March 197:09 PM CDTEF0Blount0.9100
March 197:26 PM CDTEF2Marshall3.8690
March 197:50 PM CDTEF1St. Clair6.4880
March 198:02 PM CDTEF2St. Clair15.72,0001
March 198:20 PM CDTEF1Cherokee1.1400
March 198:23 PM CDTEF3Calhoun to GA35.22,1754$300,000
March 199:07 PM CDTEF0Calhoun0.8138

April 22 7 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 221:11 PM CDTEF0Dale1.2100$1,000
April 221:43 PM CDTEF1Crenshaw3.7150$100,000
April 222:11 PM CDTEF1Crenshaw2.2175$100,000
April 222:25 PM CDTEF0Montgomery2.6250
April 223:05 PM CDTEF0Baldwin0.225$25,000
April 223:25 PM CDTEF0Baldwin1.61003$100,000
April 223:38 PM CDTEF0Baldwin1.0100$25,000

June 22 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 226:25 PM CDTEF1Jackson1.7250
June 226:46 PM CDTEF2Winston7.02603

July 21 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 215:43 PM CDTEF0Lee5.7500

November 1 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 16:05 AM CDTEF0Franklin1.990
November 17:08 AM CDTEF0Choctaw0.1100
November 112:12 PM CDTEF0Lee2.650

November 5 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 511:16 PM CSTEF1Lauderdale to TN6.7200$10,000

November 6 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 612:18 AM CSTEF0Colbert1.275
November 62:17 AM CSTEF1Lamar1.0115
November 62:35 AM CSTEF1Jackson3.9215

December 1 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 12:34 PM CSTEF0Perry0.375
December 13:49 PM CSTEF0Autauga0.3100

December 2 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 21:49 AM CSTEF0Houston1.075$15,000

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 113:28 AM CSTEF0Houston, FL to AL11.225$25,000

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.