Tornadoes · United States · Alabama

2021 tornadoes in Alabama

65 tornadoes touched down in Alabama in 2021, 84 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 7 people and injured 88.

2020 2022 The whole country in 2021

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 2021

January 25 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 2510:40 PM CSTEF3Fultondale tornado10.4900130

March 17 21 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 1712:31 PM CDTEF0Sumter0.370
March 1712:32 PM CDTEF2Dallas5.11,0002
March 1712:57 PM CDTEF1Sumter9.8475
March 171:24 PM CDTEF1Autauga2.9150
March 171:56 PM CDTEF1Chilton3.0500
March 172:03 PM CDTEF0Marengo0.8175
March 172:12 PM CDTEF1Hale22.0550
March 172:22 PM CDTEF1Marengo2.8500
March 172:29 PM CDTEF0Coosa0.125
March 173:09 PM CDTEF1Tuscaloosa0.5150
March 173:25 PM CDTEF1Tuscaloosa3.5650
March 173:54 PM CDTEF1Tuscaloosa5.8650
March 174:11 PM CDTEF0Dallas1.175
March 174:30 PM CDTEF1Jefferson2.8650
March 174:54 PM CDTEF0Marengo1.875
March 174:56 PM CDTEF0Jefferson3.56601
March 175:12 PM CDTEF2Chilton5.8400
March 175:43 PM CDTEF1Blount12.9300
March 178:35 PM CDTEF0Autauga0.175
March 179:31 PM CDTEF1Cullman8.5150
March 1710:43 PM CDTEF0Montgomery0.3140

March 18 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 184:08 AM CDTEF1Crenshaw0.5150
March 185:27 AM CDTEF1Houston5.21501$200,000
March 185:49 AM CDTEF0Houston2.150$4,000

March 25 9 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 2512:16 PM CDTEF3Hale11.11,400
March 2512:53 PM CDTEF3Centreville–Columbiana tornado50.11,1405
March 252:31 PM CDTEF3Ohatchee–Piedmont tornado38.21,700610
March 253:57 PM CDTEF1Greene12.1600
March 254:26 PM CDTEF3Hale79.72,30013
March 254:48 PM CDTEF1Jefferson4.8700
March 257:13 PM CDTEF2Choctaw9.6250
March 259:01 PM CDTEF2Chilton14.7850
March 259:55 PM CDTEF2Clay31.31,000

March 28 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 285:38 AM CDTEF1Cullman2.1100

March 31 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 312:31 AM CDTEF0Marion1.690
March 313:45 AM CDTEF1Winston1.2305
March 315:44 AM CDTEF1DeKalb3.250
March 318:15 AM CDTEF0Blount0.265

April 24 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 247:50 AM CDTEF1Henry4.11502$100,000
April 247:51 AM CDTEF0Houston0.4100$25,000

May 2 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 23:45 PM CDTEF0Greene1.445
May 25:25 PM CDTUnratedTuscaloosa0.325

May 4 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 49:44 AM CDTEF0Jackson0.650
May 45:19 PM CDTEF0Perry24.8620
May 46:17 PM CDTEF1Autauga10.6330
May 46:46 PM CDTEF0Macon2.250

June 19 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 193:16 AM CDTEF0Mobile0.1251
June 197:31 AM CDTEF2Escambia22.065020$3.2 million
June 191:12 PM CDTEF0Covington0.625

August 30 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 3012:20 PM CDTEF1Mobile10.01753
August 301:25 PM CDTEF1Clarke3.5150
August 302:02 PM CDTEF0Pike3.275
August 303:45 PM CDTEF0Macon0.575

August 31 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 313:59 PM CDTEF0Houston0.920$20,000
August 316:14 PM CDTEF0Dale0.7125$100,000
August 316:34 PM CDTEF0Geneva2.325$10,000

November 11 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 113:03 PM CSTEF0Elmore0.4270

December 6 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 69:05 AM CSTUnratedMorgan1.3100

December 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 104:12 PM CSTEF0Elmore0.250

December 29 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 296:27 PM CSTEF1Lamar17.5300
December 298:21 PM CSTEF1DeKalb6.0285
December 299:02 PM CSTEF0Etowah1.2100
December 2910:01 PM CSTEF1Chilton10.9400

December 31 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 312:49 PM CSTEF1DeKalb0.950

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
March 173:44 PM CDTEF2Wayne, MS to AL36.65002
March 251:35 PM CDTEF1Noxubee, MS to AL6.6515

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.