EF0 tornado, Cold Water to Oak Level, Alabama, January 10, 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

January 10, 2026

Touchdown

6:48 AM CST (12:48 UTC)

Lifted

6:59 AM CST (12:59 UTC)

On the ground

11 minutes

Path length

7.4 miles (11.9 km)

Path width

75 yards (69 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Cleburne County

Touchdown point

33.798, -85.493

Lift-off point

33.856, -85.385

Highest wind the damage implies

80 mph

Surveyed by

NWS BMX

The office's name for it

Mars Hill Tornado

Survey last edited

January 12, 2026

Record number

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

The National Weather Service in Birmingham surveyed damage in northern Cleburne County and confirmed an EF-0 tornado with winds up to 80 mph. The tornado began in a heavily forested area between County Road (CR) 549 and CR 205, where several pine trees were uprooted or limbs were snapped. The track moved northeast across a large area of inaccessible land and emerged at CR 296 and CR 49, where several more small pine trees were snapped or uprooted. More tree damage was noted at the intersection of CR 40 and CR 65, with very minor damage to a couple homes. The tornado then followed along CR 65, with additional tree damage along both sides of the road. Tree damage became slightly heavier as the tornado approached the Mars Hill community. The tornado struck four chicken houses and peeled the roofing off the southern end of three, scattering debris to the east and northeast. A home sustained minor roof damage, and a detached garage was damaged by a falling tree. Just downstream, a shed was destroyed in the yard of another residence. A tornado debris signature then became apparent on radar. The damage became more sparse as the path continued, with tree damage, mostly to pines, continuing across CR 123 and CR 253. The damage path appeared to end just past CR 253, before reaching the Georgia state line.

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

14 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 80 mph.

• A couple structures with minor damage.
• Small pines uprooted/limbs snapped.
• Several uproots and broken limbs in this area.
• Several pines down at residence.

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

A multi-wave severe event unfolded from the afternoon of January 9 through the morning of January 10. While the first wave featured no severe thunderstorms, heavy rainfall over Birmingham led to numerous flooding issues. Early the next morning, additional heavy rainfall led to more flooding issues in parts of Jefferson, Shelby, and St. Clair counties. A bowing line segment moved across Marengo, Dallas, Autauga, Elmore, Montgomery, and Lee counties, with scattered instances of wind damage. In addition, a cell in advance of the main QLCS produced an EF-0 tornado in northern Cleburne County.

The National Weather Service in Birmingham surveyed damage in northern Cleburne County and confirmed an EF-0 tornado with winds up to 80 mph. The tornado began in a heavily forested area between County Road (CR) 549 and CR 205, where several pine trees were uprooted or limbs were snapped. The track moved northeast across a large area of inaccessible land and emerged at CR 296 and CR 49, where several more small pine trees were snapped or uprooted. More tree damage was noted at the intersection of CR 40 and CR 65, with very minor damage to a couple homes. The tornado then followed along CR 65, with additional tree damage along both sides of the road. Tree damage became slightly heavier as the tornado approached the Mars Hill community. The tornado struck four chicken houses and peeled the roofing off the southern end of three, scattering debris to the east and northeast. A home sustained minor roof damage, and a detached garage was damaged by a falling tree. Just downstream, a shed was destroyed in the yard of another residence. A tornado debris signature then became apparent on radar. The damage became more sparse as the path continued, with tree damage, mostly to pines, continuing across CR 123 and CR 253. The damage path appeared to end just past CR 253, before reaching the Georgia state 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.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 09:49 UTC and running to 16:03 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 Marginal Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 05:31 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.

Carrollton (CTJ), 34 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 96 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 12:47 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

6 more have been surveyed in the United States that day, so far.

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.