EF2 tornado, Hickory to Gordo, Alabama, March 15, 2025

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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF2

Date

March 15, 2025

Touchdown

4:32 PM CDT (21:32 UTC)

Lifted

4:58 PM CDT (21:58 UTC)

On the ground

26 minutes

Path length

21.6 miles (34.7 km)

Path width

950 yards (869 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Pickens County

Touchdown point

33.150, -88.057

Lift-off point

33.401, -87.839

Record number

2503151532-01

66 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS BMX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 115 mph.

• Roof damage to homes. Likely due to trees
• Manufactured home anchored with augers. Anchoring pulled from ground, but intact
• Estimated beginning point off satellite.

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

A significant severe weather event unfolded across Central Alabama on March 15, with 15 tornadoes, several instances of straight-line wind damage, and isolated flooding. An initial round of storms during the early morning brought reports of large hail in Pickens and Walker counties, followed by an afternoon round with several strong, long-track tornadoes. Of the 15 tornadoes, five were rated EF-2 and two were EF-3. Nine of the 15 tornadoes tracked over 10 miles, with the longest path being an EF-2 tornado that traversed 39.48 miles across Tuscaloosa and Walker counties, striking the town of Sipsey. An EF-3 tornado in Plantersville in Dallas County resulted in two fatalities and two injuries, while an EF-2 tornado in Winterboro in Talladega County had one fatality and one injury. The second EF-3 tornado struck Tallapoosa County, reaching peak intensity in Horseshoe Bend National Military Park. Near the end of the event, an EF-2 tornado moved across southern and eastern parts of Troy, with three injuries being documented.

National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage|associated with a tornado in Pickens County that began around|4:32 PM on March 15, 2025. The tornado began in a wooded area|north of County Road 2, then moved northeastward across Houston|Windle Road near New Salem Missionary Baptist Church. The tornado|began to intensify as it moved northeastward, reaching EF-|1 strength as it crossed Ray Bass Road where numerous snapped|trees were observed. The tornado continued to intensify, reaching|EF-2 strength with maximum winds around 115 mph as it crossed|Ebenezer Church Road. It likely maintained this strength as it|continued northeastward, crossing Highway 86 where widespread|tree damage was noted. As the tornado moved into the Bostic|community, it destroyed several chicken houses on Russell Farm|Road. One residence on Russell Farm Road sustained significant|roof damage, and one manufactured home to the north of Russell|Farm Road was lifted and displaced. Auger anchoring systems were|pulled from the ground, and the home was severely damaged.|However, the frame was largely intact. The tornado then crossed|Highway 82 on the west side of Gordo. A home sustained|substantial damage to the roof along Highway 159 near the|intersection of County Road 88. There were also numerous uprooted|and snapped trees observed around these locations. The tornado|then tracked on the north side of County Road 88, destroying|several more chicken houses before weakening as it reached Fair|Road, where another home sustained partial roof damage. The|tornado eventually lifted northeast of Zion Road near the|Tuscaloosa County line.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 17:25 UTC and running to 01:00 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 High Risk, with a 0.30 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 20:04 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 Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 78 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:32 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 2025 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

49 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.