Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2021

EF0 tornado, Higdon, Alabama, May 4, 2021

This EF0 tornado ran 0.6 miles across Jackson County on May 4, 2021, touching down at 9:44 AM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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
May 4, 2021
Touchdown
9:44 AM CDT (14:44 UTC)
Lifted
9:45 AM CDT (14:45 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.6 miles (0.9 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Jackson County
Touchdown point
34.844, -85.640
Lift-off point
34.842, -85.631
Record number
2105040844-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A complex of thunderstorms dropped southeast from Tennessee. Outflow from these thunderstorms produced new strong to severe thunderstorms over north Alabama during the mid to late morning hours. There were several reports of wind damage, including a measured wind gust of 58 mph at the Huntsville International Airport. An EF-0 tornado produced a short track of damage in Higdon. Rainfall of 1 to 3 inches fell in a very short period of time producing brief flash flooding as well on the north side of the Quad Cities.

The Jackson County Emergency Management Agency surveyed a short tornado track in Higdon. The tornado touched down briefly west of County Road 320. A few trees were uprooted as the tornado moved east-southeast along County Road 320. A house on this road also sustained minor roof damage and a carport was destroyed. The tornado lifted just west of Highway 71.

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.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 10:15 UTC and running to 15:22 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
10:15 UTC15:22 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchHUN
14:04 UTC14:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUN
14:39 UTC15:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUN

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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 12:50 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.

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), 00:00Z

9.3 hours after it, 168 km from the path. May 5, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 2021-05-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 539 joules per kilogram, CIN -32, lifted condensation level 815 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 2021-05-05The 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 102 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 37 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
539 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-32 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1101 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
815 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
102 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
244 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
2.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

LaFayette (9A5), 36 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
12:55 UTC66.766.70° 0 kt1012.5
13:15 UTC66.766.7250° 3 kt1012.5
13:35 UTC66.766.70° 0 kt1012.5
13:55 UTC67670° 0 kt1012.2
14:15 UTC69690° 0 kt1011.9
14:35 UTC69.869.8210° 6 kt1012.2
14:55 UTC68.468.4250° 4 kt1012.5
15:15 UTC66.766.7270° 13 kt241015.6
15:35 UTC65.765.530° 4 kt1014.6
15:55 UTC65.365.310° 7 kt1013.9
16:15 UTC64.864.820° 6 kt1015.2
16:35 UTC64.464.40° 0 kt1015.9

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

The radar

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 42 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 14:44 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
14:07 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 E LangstonJackson, ALA TREE WAS KNOCKED DOWN. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
14:08 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 S SkylineJackson, ALCORRECTS PREVIOUS TSTM WND DMG REPORT FROM 3 S SKYLINE. CORRECTION: TREES DOWN ACROSS HWY 79 AT CR21 SOUTH OF SKYLINE.
14:10 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Ene SkylineJackson, ALTREES AND POWER LINES WERE KNOCKED DOWN AT CR 107 AT CR 241. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
14:40 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 S SkylineJackson, ALCORRECTION: TREES DOWN ACROSS HWY 79 AT CR21 SOUTH OF SKYLINE. TREES ALSO DOWN AT INTERSECTION OF CR107 AND CR241 NEAR HYTOP.
14:40 UTCFLOOD3 S SkylineJackson, ALTREES DOWN ACROSS HWY 79 AT CR21 SOUTH OF SKYLINE. TREES ALSO DOWN AT INTERSECTION OF CR107 AND CR241 NEAR HYTOP.
14:41 UTCTSTM WND DMG7 Se BridgeportJackson, ALA TREE WAS KNOCKED DOWN ON CR 318. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
14:43 UTCTSTM WND DMG9 Se BridgeportJackson, ALA TREE WAS UPROOTED DAMAGING A FENCE AND SHED. SOCIAL MEDIA REPORT THROUGH BROADCAST MEDIA. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
14:44 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Nnw IderJackson, ALSOCIAL MEDIA REPORT OF A TREE KNOCKED DOWN IN FLAT ROCK.
15:14 UTCTSTM WND DMG6 Nw SkylineJackson, ALTREES AND POWERLINES DOWN BLOCKING ROADWAY.
15:22 UTCFLASH FLOODRainsvilleDekalb, AL1-1.5 FEET OF WATER DEPTH REPORTED ON THE INTERSECTION OF HIGHWAY 75 AND HIGHWAY 35 IN RAINSVILLE.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2021 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 4, 2021

38 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 42:09 AM CDTEF0Greene, AR2.2100$25,000
May 42:55 AM CDTEF0Pemiscot, MO2.790$50,000
May 43:19 AM CDTEF1Mississippi, MO3.7400$85,000
May 43:23 AM CDTEF1Obion, TN2.650$225,000
May 43:31 AM CDTEF1Hickman, KY5.3100$350,000
May 43:33 AM CDTEF2Fulton, KY6.1150$310,000
May 43:55 AM CDTEF1Graves, KY4.7125$165,000
May 43:59 AM CDTEF1Graves, KY0.5100$15,000
May 44:35 AM CDTEF0Benton, TN3.180$75,000
May 45:12 AM CDTEF0Christian, KY2.675$45,000
May 45:54 AM CDTEF0Cheatham, TN4.9100$15,000
May 45:56 AM CDTEF0Robertson, TN1.825$10,000
May 46:01 AM CDTEF0Robertson, TN2.2200$25,000
May 46:02 AM CDTEF0Robertson, TN9.450$15,000
May 46:03 AM CDTEF0Davidson, TN6.4200$15,000
May 46:10 AM CDTEF0Sumner, TN0.725$10,000
May 46:21 AM CDTEF0Sumner, TN3.950$25,000
May 46:31 AM CDTEF0Sumner, TN6.950$15,000
May 46:38 AM CDTEF0Sumner, TN5.0200$25,000
May 46:54 AM CDTEF0Trousdale, TN3.350$15,000
May 46:56 AM CDTEF0Macon, TN1.925$10,000
May 47:20 AM CDTEF0DeKalb, TN1.025$15,000
May 47:43 AM CDTEF0DeKalb, TN4.8200$25,000
May 48:07 AM CDTEF0White, TN1.150$15,000
May 49:01 AM CDTEF1Rankin, MS9.775$35,000
May 41:21 PM EDTEF0Lumpkin, GA4.7350$150,000
May 41:13 PM CDTEF0Richland Parish, LA8.6700$75,000
May 42:51 PM EDTEF1Elk, PA0.6125
May 41:59 PM CDTEF1Madison Parish, LA to MS17.7600$255,000
May 42:22 PM CDTEF0Yazoo, MS9.2250$25,000
May 42:24 PM CDTEF1Hinds, MS30.7880$855,000
May 43:06 PM CDTEF1Leake, MS15.01,050$100,000
May 44:23 PM EDTEF1Fairfield, SC3.9300
May 43:43 PM CDTEF1Newton, MS5.5400$25,000
May 44:08 PM CDTEF1Lauderdale, MS3.5450$55,000
May 45:19 PM CDTEF0Perry, AL24.8620
May 46:17 PM CDTEF1Autauga, AL10.6330
May 46:46 PM CDTEF0Macon, AL2.250

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.