EF2 tornado, Lawngate to Maysville, 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 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

May 20, 2025

Touchdown

6:09 PM CDT (23:09 UTC)

Lifted

6:35 PM CDT (23:35 UTC)

On the ground

26 minutes

Path length

13.2 miles (21.2 km)

Path width

125 yards (114 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Limestone and Madison counties

Touchdown point

34.717, -86.949

Lift-off point

34.724, -86.720

Record number

2505201709-01

83 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 125 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)
• broken windows at firestation
• Multiple trees snapped or have large branches broken.

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 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.

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.

A tornado crossed from Limestone into Madison County just south of Browns Ferry Road. Further tree damage, predominantly uproots, was observed between County Line Road and Wall Triana Highway, with several instances of trees falling on homes. The tornado reached its maximum intensity as it approached Hughes Road, specifically near Downing Ridge and Millsford Road. In this area, two single-family homes suffered major roof damage, with most or all of the roofing material removed. Numerous trees were also uprooted at this location. Continuing eastward, the tornado crossed Hughes Road in the Dublin Circle area. Sporadic tree damage was noted north of Eastview Drive through Kensington Drive and Foothill Court. The tornado dissipated before reaching Slaughter Road.

A tornado began by snapping several hardwood and softwood trees on the eastern side of Blossomwood in Huntsville, at the base of Monte Sano Mountain. Trees were downed and witness statements confirmed the tornado touchdown near the intersection of Randolph Avenue and Toll Gate Road. Further east, more widespread tree damage was noted on satellite imagery up the mountain at the end of Cleermont Drive near the Wildflower Hiking Trail. NVDI satellite imagery here shows that the tornado was|about 400 yards wide at its widest point crossing overtop Monte Sano, snapping and uprooting large swaths of trees in Monte Sano State Park. The tornado traversed the leeward side of the mountain and continued producing tree damage in Moontown, south of the Moontown Airport along Moontown and Bob Hunt Roads, just west of the Flint River. After crossing the Flint River south of U.S. Highway 72, the tornado began to weaken as it approached Madison County High School, downing several power poles to the east of the school on Brock Road. The tornado produced minor tree damage and minor damage to a barn in fields in the 1000-block of Salty Bottom Road before dissipating.

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

33 minutes of warning. NWS HUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:36 UTC, 33 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), 72 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:06 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.