Unrated tornado, Wheeler Lake North to Athens, Alabama, May 20, 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 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. Unratedthis tornado

   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

Unrated

Date

May 20, 2025

Touchdown

5:51 PM CDT (22:51 UTC)

Lifted

5:54 PM CDT (22:54 UTC)

On the ground

3 minutes

Path length

2.2 miles (3.5 km)

Path width

25 yards (23 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Limestone and Lawrence counties

Touchdown point

34.685, -87.126

Lift-off point

34.690, -87.088

Record number

2505201651-01

47 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS HUN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EFU. The highest wind the damage implies is 105 mph.

• Tombstones were flipped and dragged at Anderson Cemetary. Surveyed by Chase Wilson of Tennessee Valley Weather.
• Move point north into the backyard by about 200 yards (done)
• Survey via EMA drone for Limestone County
• Tombstones were flipped and dragged at Anderson Cemetary. A utility box was pulled up. Surveyed by Chase Wilson and Samuel Camp of Tennessee Valley Weather.

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

An outbreak of tornadoes, large hail, wind damage and flash flooding occurred during the afternoon and evening of the 20th. Fourteen tornadoes occurred in north Alabama, including 1 EF-0, 10 EF-1, 2 EF-2, and 1 EF-U (unknown) which was a waterspout on Wheeler Lake. One person was injured in Colbert County. There were also several reports of large hail, including baseball sized and larger in northern Lawrence and southeastern Lauderdale Counties. Damaging winds were also experienced as well with the severe thunderstorms. Lightning sparked a fire which resulted in severe structural and water damage and total loss to the Albertville Public Library which is scheduled to be demolished. There were two reports of flash flooding in Jackson County.

A tornado crossed the Elk River into Limestone County, snapping large limbs and the tops of trees before dissipating along Snake Road and Little Elk Road.

A waterspout developed over Wheeler Reservoir south of the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant. The waterspout moved east-northeast|towards Round Island Creek Public Use Area crossing from Lawrence into Limestone County. At least two citizen videos from the Black Landing area confirmed the waterspout and its movement and were posted on social media.

A waterspout developed over Wheeler Reservoir south of the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant. The waterspout moved east-northeast|towards Round Island Creek Public Use Area crossing from Lawrence into Limestone County. At least two citizen videos from the Black Landing area confirmed the waterspout and its movement and were posted on social media.

Drone imagery indicated a brief tornado touched down along Dement Road where a tree was knocked down. The tornado continued east moving over mainly wooded areas. Drone imagery showed multiple trees and large branches down continuing east from Dement Road, parallel to U.S. Highway 72. After moving across a property north of U.S. Highway 72, the tornado lifted just before Cox Road.

The tornado was initially observed and filmed by multiple storm chasers west of Interstate 65 near Tanner. As it crossed Interstate 65, numerous trees were uprooted or snapped. The tornado tracked eastward, passing south of Huntsville-Brownsferry Road and moving towards Greenbrier Parkway. Along Greenbrier Parkway, multiple trees were uprooted, and several structures sustained minor roof damage. Sporadic tree damage continued east of Greenbrier Parkway toward Powell Road and Burgreen Road. Before crossing County Line Road, minor roof damage occurred to several single-family homes and and several trees were knocked down onto some residences. One home located just west of County Line Road experienced significant damage to its west-facing facade.

The tornado began south of Highway 72, between York Lane and Lucas Ferry Road. Significant impacts were observed near the intersection of Lucas Ferry Road and Sanderfer Road, where numerous wooden power poles were snapped, and cross members were broken. Uprooted trees and additional snapped power poles were |documented along Sanderfer Road. The tornado tracked in an east-northeast direction, continuing through the Jefferson Road and Highway 72 vicinity before dissipating.

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 22:36 UTC, 15 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:36 UTC and running to 02:43 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 19:52 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), 97 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:50 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

38 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.