EF3 tornado, Pisgah to Hammondville, Alabama, May 8, 2024

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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF3

Date

May 8, 2024

Touchdown

10:57 PM CDT (03:57 UTC)

Lifted

11:24 PM CDT (04:24 UTC)

On the ground

27 minutes

Path length

12.3 miles (19.9 km)

Path width

880 yards (805 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

7

Property damage

$4.5 million

Counties

Jackson and DeKalb counties

Touchdown point

34.641, -85.858

Lift-off point

34.600, -85.650

Record number

2405082157-01

101 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS HUN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF3. The highest wind the damage implies is 143 mph.

• Camper overturned and numerous trees snapped
• Bleachers tossed 40-50 yards
• Several large oak trees were uprooted and fell onto a single family residence, causing complete failure of external walls.
• 34.70538N, 86.10440W, Old Larkinsville Road.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

A significant outbreak of tornadoes occurred in two waves during the evening of the 8th and early morning hours of the 9th. The first wave occurred as multiple supercell thunderstorms developed across southern middle Tennessee and far north central Alabama. These storms moved east during the evening hours, producing ## tornadoes in north central and northeast Alabama.||A break in the activity was then followed by a line of thunderstorms that dropped southeast through southern middle Tennessee into north central and northeast Alabama after Midnight through the early morning hours. The line produced tornadoes in southern middle Tennessee, a couple of which continued into northeast Alabama. Additional tornadoes occurred with the line in far northeast Alabama.||In addition, locally heavy rainfall from the slow-moving supercells produced flash flooding during the evening of the 8th, with several roadways covered with or barricaded due to hazardous driving conditions. This primarily affected locations in southeastern Madison County, northern Marshall County, and southwest Jackson County.

A tornado touched down on Highway 71 in Jackson County, snapping hard and softwood trees to begin its path. The tornado continued between County Roads 425 and 322, producing minor damage to the roof of a small farm building. The tornado then overturned a camper along County Road 422 requiring hospitalization including one experiencing blunt force trauma and another being a pregnant female. Five others with minor injuries were treated on the scene. Also at this location, a well-built home was partially destroyed. A mobile home was moved off its foundation here as well, with a third of the roof of a hay barn and a horse trailer destroyed. Projectiles were found in the field across the street from this home, with 2x4s impaled a foot to 18 in the ground at this location. Further south and east along State Road 40, large 100+ year old oak trees that were 4-5 foot in diameter were blown down onto a house, collapsing two exterior walls. Windows were sucked out at this location as well prior to the trees falling when the tornado passed just north of the house. Up the street, a well-built home sustained major damage when the tornado ripped the garage off of the house and sheared it to the north and east into the rest of the dwelling. EF-2 wind speeds of 135 mph were noted at this location.||Widespread fallen trees south of State Road 40 were noted and surveyors found damage indicators and degrees of damage consistent with EF-3 (140 mph) tornado damage. The tornado was the strongest and widest at this point along the path, at 880 yards or around 1/2 mile. Along County Road 125, a well built shop building was completely destroyed. The metal building structure was well-anchored with H-beams anchored with large bolts and plates at the bases to the foundation. The bolts were snapped and severely bent, along with the plates. On one corner, a large 4-5 foot section of the foundation was ripped off the ground and strewn about 10 feet away with the column anchoring still intact. A 20,000 pound 18-wheeler cab was tossed more than 150 yards into the field across County Road 125. Other nearby semi-trailers that were parked on the property were strewn in the same direction as well, though most were shifted 50-100 feet. The tornado then proceeded into DeKalb County.

A tornado continued to track from Jackson into DeKalb County, snapping and uprooting softwood trees over the relatively rural landscape along Melton Drive and Elliot Road. Further east and southeast, the tornado moved across the intersection of Culver, Keith, and Lacey Roads, snapping and uprooting more softwood trees. The tornado crossed State Road 40, peeling back tin on several chicken houses between State Road 40 and Valley Road, causing the structural integrity of one of the houses to be compromised. Additional softwood trees were uprooted and snapped near the intersection of County Roads 714 and 120 along State Road 40 as well, with the loss of several roof panels to a shed structure at a house located here.|A large oak tree fell onto a house on County Road 665 at 670. The tornado skipped along uprooting and snapping more hard and softwood trees before lifting near the intersection of County Road 611 and State Road 40.

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

15 minutes of warning. NWS HUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 03:42 UTC, 15 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:09 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 03:11 UTC and running to 05:42 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Enhanced Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 01:42 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 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.

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 46 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:54 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2024 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

52 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.