EF1 tornado, Isney to Souwilpa, Alabama, March 11, 2026

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 mphthis tornado

   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

EF1, preliminary

Date

March 11, 2026

Touchdown

10:28 PM CDT (03:28 UTC)

Lifted

10:30 PM CDT (03:30 UTC)

On the ground

2 minutes

Path length

1.5 miles (2.4 km)

Path width

230 yards (210 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Choctaw County

Touchdown point

31.779, -88.466

Lift-off point

31.779, -88.441

Highest wind the damage implies

100 mph

Surveyed by

NWS MOB

The office's name for it

Isney

Survey last edited

July 7, 2026

Record number

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

The EF-1 tornado began just west of Wildflower Rd south of highway 84 near Isney Alabama. The tornado resulted in a few uprooted and snapped trees as it passed over Wildflower Rd. The tornado reached its peak intensity likely between Wildflower Rd and Poultry Rd where it snapped several softwoods, uprooted other trees and did damage to several chicken farm buildings. Total damage to the chicken farm was difficult to determine given the buildings were already damaged from a prior storm but satellite imagery was able to assist in determining there was at least some new damage to the buildings. As a result peak intensity was given to the tree damage and a lower bound estimate was given to the chicken farm. The tornado then proceeded towards highway 84 as it slowly weakened before crossing highway 84 near Lone Star Rd.

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

33 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS MOB, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EFU. The highest wind the damage implies is 100 mph.

• Shed attached to building, pulled towards dead pecan. Likely edge of tornado
• Minor loss of roof panels via sentinel 2 satellite imagery. Was able to confirm this visually from the adjacent highway 84, but were unable to get closer due to the road being blocked by downed trees.
• Most trees along this tree line were substantially damaged adjacent to the lake, with multiple snaps and uproots likely visible via Sentinel 2 satellite imagery. This was likely the tornadoes strongest point in comparison to other ground surveyed points.
• Several mid-trunk snaps visible from the road via ground survey crew off Highway 84.

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

A strong cold front moved across the area with a line of showers and thunderstorms. The storms produced several tornadoes and gusty winds across southwest Alabama.

The EF-1 tornado began just west of Wildflower Rd south of|highway 84 near Isney Alabama. The tornado resulted in a few|uprooted and snapped trees as it passed over Wildflower Rd. The|tornado reached its peak intensity likely between Wildflower Rd|and Poultry Rd where it snapped several softwoods, uprooted other|trees and did damage to several chicken farm buildings. Total|damage to the chicken farm was difficult to determine given the|buildings were already damaged from a prior storm but satellite|imagery was able to assist in determining there was at least some|new damage to the buildings. As a result peak intensity was given|to the tree damage and a lower bound estimate was given to the|chicken farm. The tornado then proceeded towards highway 84 as it|slowly weakened before crossing highway 84 near Lone Star Rd.

This short EF-1 tornado began just north of Souwilpa road|resulting in a couple softwood trunk snaps before crossing|Souwilpa road resulting in a couple uprooted trees and destroying|an outbuilding that was pulled southward towards the path. A|large oak was uprooted before the short tornado dissipated into|the woods. Peak intensity was likely around 90 mph based on the|uproots and snapped trunks.

The brief EF-1 tornado began along Souwilpa road near Alabama|Highway 187 where it uprooted and snapped a couple of trees. A|very narrow convergence path was noted as it crossed highway|17 peaking in intensity as it snapped a few small softwood pines|before likely dissipating in the woods east of highway 17.

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 23:56 UTC and running to 05:04 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 00:54 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 Mobile radar (KMOB), 124 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:27 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

56 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.