EF0 tornado, Theodore Idle Hour A to Laurendine, Alabama, March 11, 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

March 11, 2026

Touchdown

12:20 AM CDT (05:20 UTC)

Lifted

12:22 AM CDT (05:22 UTC)

On the ground

2 minutes

Path length

1.1 miles (1.8 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Mobile County

Touchdown point

30.581, -88.331

Lift-off point

30.583, -88.313

Highest wind the damage implies

85 mph

Surveyed by

NWS MOB

The office's name for it

Dees

Survey last edited

April 6, 2026

Record number

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

Available high resolution satellite imagery revealed a brief EF0 tornado tracked along Dawes Road just northeast of Dees. The tornado remained primarily within forest causing minor tree damage along its track. The track of the tornado is also supported by a radar tornado debris signature.

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

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

• Minor tree damage visible on satellite imagery collocated with radar TDS.
• Minor tree damage visible at this location collocated with a weak radar TDS.
• Radar TDS, minor tree damage at this location visible via satellite imagery.
• Minor tree damage visible at this location via high resolution satellite imagery.

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.

Available high resolution satellite imagery revealed a brief|EF0 tornado tracked along Dawes Road just northeast of Dees. The|tornado remained primarily within forest causing minor tree|damage along its track. The track of the tornado is also|supported by a radar tornado debris signature.

Available high resolution satellite imagery was able to reveal an|EF0 tornado tracked north of Interstate 10 near Grand Bay. The|tornado began north of Pascagoula Road solely in forest causing|minor tree damage. While there is a gap in visible damage on|satellite imagery, radar tornado debris signature persists east|connecting with another small corridor of tree damage near Ramsey|Road and Boe Road. This is where the end point of the tornado is|estimated as any visible damage associated with the radar|signature disappears after reaching I-10.

Available high resolution satellite imagery revealed a weak|EF0 tornado tracked from Irvington through the Laurendine area|causing sporadic minor tree damage all along its track. The track|of the tornado is further supported by the presence of a radar|tornado debris signature.

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

40 minutes of warning. NWS MOB issued a tornado warning for this county at 04:40 UTC, 40 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 05:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 23:56 UTC and running to 06:33 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), 13 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:21 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.