EF0 tornado, Trussville, Alabama, February 26, 2026

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.

Rating, as surveyed

EF0, preliminary

Date

February 26, 2026

Touchdown

3:41 PM CST (21:41 UTC)

Lifted

3:45 PM CST (21:45 UTC)

On the ground

4 minutes

Path length

1.6 miles (2.6 km)

Path width

65 yards (59 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Jefferson County

Touchdown point

33.611, -86.630

Lift-off point

33.596, -86.608

Highest wind the damage implies

85 mph

Surveyed by

NWS BMX

The office's name for it

Trussville Tornado

Survey last edited

February 28, 2026

Record number

None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.

The National Weather Service surveyed damage in Trussville and determined that a high-end EF-0 tornado occurred. Damage began along the north end of Mary Taylor Rd, where a construction trailer was flipped. A portion of the Metro Mini Storage had doors blown in and metal roofing lifted/peeled back. Next to this, approximately 13-14 trees in close proximity were uprooted, including 12 cedar trees in a tight row. Winds were estimated at about 80 mph here. The tornado crossed Highway 11, where minor roof damage was done to a car wash and Velma’s restaurant. As the tornado moved southeastward along Mary Taylor Rd, large doors were partially blown in and roofing was removed from a warehouse, and a fence was damaged at a dog daycare center. The tornado crossed a railroad and struck Daniel Iron, with a section of a warehouse having large doors blown in and large pieces of metal roofing removed. A few flatbed semi trailers were moved in the lot as well.

The tornado then ascended a small ridge and moved through a subdivision, causing mainly shingle and fence damage at numerous homes, along with a few trees and limbs being downed. At least one home was observed to have had a garage door damaged. Of particular note was the discovery of a large chunk of steel roofing from the Daniel Iron warehouse that landed on a home before sliding off and coming to rest on the side of another home. This caused considerable roof damage to the first home, resulting in water damage from rain. After this, minor tree and shingle damage continued across Hidden Brook Dr, Amber Trace, Yvonne St, and Alabama Dr, with the most notable damage being a few uprooted trees in close proximity along Yvonne St. The last area of discernable damage, very minor in nature, was observed near a lake in a curve along Queenstown Rd. Wind speeds at the peak were estimated at 85 mph at Daniel Iron. The NWS would like to thank Jefferson County EMA for their assistance during this survey.

Written by NWS BMX in the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit. A survey is revised as better evidence arrives.

38 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS BMX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 85 mph.

• Numerous uproots all laying SW. Several fell on homes.
• Numerous trees down, lines in road. Numerous snaps in a swamp.
• Numerous trees down, power lines in road. Numerous snaps of dead trees in swamp.
• Numerous snaps of dead trees in swamp.

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

Scattered supercell thunderstorms developed near a slow-moving frontal boundary during the afternoon and evening hours on February 26. Cold temperatures were present aloft with strong deep layer shear but relatively weak low-level shear. Scattered severe hail reports were received, with the largest hailstones falling in portions of Blount, Jefferson, and St. Clair counties, as large as two inches in diameter. Damaging winds also occurred, with the most significant wind damage in Pinson where a microburst occurred. A hail storm associated with the microburst resulted in accumulating hail that covered the ground and resulted in the formation of hail fog. In addition, a brief EF-0 tornado also moved through Trussville, damaging some commercial and industrial buildings as well as homes, most of which was minor.

The National Weather Service surveyed damage in Trussville and determined that a high-end EF-0 tornado occurred. Damage began along the north end of Mary Taylor Rd, where a construction trailer was flipped. A portion of the Metro Mini Storage had doors blown in and metal roofing lifted/peeled back. Next to this, approximately 13-14 trees in close proximity were uprooted, including 12 cedar trees in a tight row. Winds were estimated at about 80 mph here. The tornado crossed Highway 11, where minor roof damage was done to a car wash and Velma���s restaurant. As the tornado moved southeastward along Mary Taylor Rd, large doors were partially blown in and roofing was removed from a warehouse, and a fence was damaged at a dog daycare center. The tornado crossed a railroad and struck Daniel Iron, with a section of a warehouse having large doors blown in and large pieces of metal roofing removed. A few flatbed semi trailers were moved in the lot as well.||The tornado then ascended a small ridge and moved through a subdivision, causing mainly shingle and fence damage at numerous homes, along with a few trees and limbs being downed. At least one home was observed to have had a garage door damaged. Of particular note was the discovery of a large chunk of steel roofing from the Daniel Iron warehouse that landed on a home before sliding off and coming to rest on the side of another home. This caused considerable roof damage to the first home, resulting in water damage from rain. After this, minor tree and shingle damage continued across Hidden Brook Dr, Amber Trace, Yvonne St, and Alabama Dr, with the most notable damage being a few uprooted trees in close proximity along Yvonne St. The last area of discernible damage, very minor in nature, was observed near a lake in a curve along Queenstown Rd. Wind speeds at the peak were estimated at 85 mph at Daniel Iron. The NWS would like to thank Jefferson County EMA for their assistance during this survey.

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.

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 Marginal Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 19:31 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.

Birmingham Municipal (BHM), 12 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 50 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:40 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 2026 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. A survey can be revised, so the rating, the path and the casualties can all still change.

NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit, the record the survey teams file from the damage, and NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports. Neither is the official database for 2026, which SPC publishes in the spring of 2027.