Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2026
EF0 tornado, Choctaw County, Alabama, May 22, 2026
This EF0 tornado ran 1.5 miles across Choctaw County on May 22, 2026, touching down at 9:28 AM CDT and reaching 180 yards wide. It killed nobody.
Preliminary. This is NWS MOB's damage survey, filed in the Damage Assessment Toolkit as Isney. The rating, the path and the casualties are the survey's and can change while it is revised. The Storm Prediction Center compiles the official record of 2026 from these surveys and publishes it in the spring of 2027; this page moves to that tornado's permanent address when it does.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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.
The survey
- Rating, as surveyed
- EF0, preliminary
- Date
- May 22, 2026
- Touchdown
- 9:28 AM CDT (14:28 UTC)
- Lifted
- 9:32 AM CDT (14:32 UTC)
- On the ground
- 4 minutes
- Path length
- 1.5 miles (2.5 km)
- Path width
- 180 yards (165 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Choctaw County
- Touchdown point
- 31.767, -88.460
- Lift-off point
- 31.782, -88.443
- Highest wind the damage implies
- 85 mph
- Surveyed by
- NWS MOB
- The office's name for it
- Isney
- Survey last edited
- July 3, 2026
- Record number
- None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.
What the survey found
Available Sentinel 2 satellite imagery revealed a weak EF0 tornado occurred in the Isney area. The tornado began south of Wildflower Road, tracking northeast across Poultry Road, causing a roughly 180-yard-wide corridor of tree damage. This tornado also crossed the path of another tornado that occurred near this location back on March 11th of this year along Poultry Road. The tornado lifted just prior to reaching Highway 84. Additional adjustments to this tornado are possible as higher resolution imagery becomes available. Review of additional high resolution satellite imagery revealed the tornado crossed Highway 84 affecting a property to the north of the road damaging a few trees.
Written by NWS MOB in the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit. A survey is revised as better evidence arrives.
The damage survey
12 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.
- Sentinel 2 satellite imagery reveals several trees uprooted/snapped at this location.
- Sentinel 2 satellite imagery reveals several trees uprooted/snapped at this location. Southeast edge of damage path.
- Sentinel 2 satellite imagery reveals minor tree damage at this location.
- Narrow corridor of tree damage visible at this location via Sentinel 2 satellite imagery.
Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.
The warnings
8 minutes of warning. NWS MOB issued a tornado warning for this county at 14:20 UTC, 8 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 15:00 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13:56 UTC | 14:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB |
| 14:20 UTC | 15:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | MOB |
| 15:01 UTC | 15:11 UTC | Tornado Warning | MOB |
| 15:57 UTC | 19:00 UTC | Flood Advisory | MOB |
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 forecast that day
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 12:49 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 air that afternoon
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.
Jackson, MS (KJAN), 12:00Z
2.5 hours before the tornado, 165 km from the path. May 22, 2026.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 555 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -9 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1033 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 526 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 268 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 253 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.6
- Supercell composite
- 4.7
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.6 K/km
Jackson, MS (KJAN), 00:00Z
9.5 hours after it, 165 km from the path. May 23, 2026.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 910 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -6 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 2192 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1408 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 39 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 5 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 29 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 84 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 2.7
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 7.3 K/km
The surface observations
Meridian/Key Field (MEI), 68 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12:29 UTC | 72 | 71 | 240° 7 kt | 1013.9 | +TSRA BR | |
| 12:30 UTC | 240° 8 kt | 1013.9 | +RA BR | |||
| 12:35 UTC | 220° 7 kt | 1013.5 | +RA FG | |||
| 12:40 UTC | 200° 6 kt | 1013.9 | +RA FG | |||
| 12:45 UTC | 180° 10 kt | 1013.9 | +RA BR | |||
| 12:49 UTC | 71 | 70 | 160° 10 kt | 15 | 1013.5 | -TSRA BR |
| 12:50 UTC | 160° 10 kt | 1013.5 | -RA BR | |||
| 12:55 UTC | 180° 4 kt | 1013.5 | -RA | |||
| 12:56 UTC | 71.6 | 69.8 | 170° 3 kt | 15 | 1013.5 | VCTS -RA |
| 12:58 UTC | 71 | 70 | 150° 4 kt | 15 | 1013.5 | VCTS |
| 13:00 UTC | 170° 4 kt | 1013.5 | ||||
| 13:05 UTC | 71 | 69 | 160° 5 kt | 1013.9 | VCTS | |
| 13:05 UTC | 160° 5 kt | 1013.9 | ||||
| 13:10 UTC | 150° 4 kt | 1013.9 | ||||
| 13:15 UTC | 120° 3 kt | 1013.5 | ||||
| 13:20 UTC | 120° 3 kt | 1013.5 | ||||
| 13:25 UTC | 120° 3 kt | 1013.5 | ||||
| 13:28 UTC | 71 | 70 | 0° 0 kt | 1013.5 | ||
| 13:30 UTC | 120° 3 kt | 1013.5 | ||||
| 13:35 UTC | 140° 4 kt | 1013.5 | ||||
| 13:40 UTC | 140° 5 kt | 1013.5 | ||||
| 13:45 UTC | 140° 4 kt | 1013.5 | ||||
| 13:50 UTC | 150° 4 kt | 1013.5 | ||||
| 13:55 UTC | 150° 4 kt | 1013.5 | ||||
| 13:58 UTC | 72 | 71 | 160° 6 kt | 1013.5 | ||
| 14:00 UTC | 150° 5 kt | 1013.5 | ||||
| 14:05 UTC | 140° 6 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 14:10 UTC | 150° 7 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 14:15 UTC | 170° 6 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 14:20 UTC | 170° 7 kt | 1013.5 | ||||
| 14:25 UTC | 170° 7 kt | 1013.5 | ||||
| 14:30 UTC | 170° 8 kt | 1013.5 | ||||
| 14:35 UTC | 180° 8 kt | 1013.5 | ||||
| 14:40 UTC | 190° 7 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 14:45 UTC | 190° 8 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 14:50 UTC | 190° 7 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 14:55 UTC | 180° 7 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 14:58 UTC | 73 | 72 | 180° 7 kt | 1013.2 | ||
| 15:00 UTC | 180° 7 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 15:05 UTC | 170° 7 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 15:10 UTC | 170° 8 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 15:15 UTC | 190° 9 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 15:20 UTC | 180° 8 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 15:25 UTC | 180° 12 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 15:30 UTC | 200° 10 kt | 15 | 1012.9 | |||
| 15:35 UTC | 190° 11 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 15:40 UTC | 210° 11 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 15:45 UTC | 190° 10 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 15:50 UTC | 1012.9 | |||||
| 15:55 UTC | 210° 9 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 15:58 UTC | 80 | 73 | 210° 15 kt | 24 | 1012.9 | |
| 16:00 UTC | 200° 12 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 16:05 UTC | 1013.2 | |||||
| 16:10 UTC | 200° 9 kt | 14 | 1013.2 | |||
| 16:15 UTC | 210° 10 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 16:20 UTC | 1013.2 | |||||
| 16:25 UTC | 1013.2 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Mobile radar (KMOB), 123 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 14:30 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.
What was reported nearby
Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14:28 UTC | TORNADO | 1 Ssw Isney | Choctaw, AL | Available Sentinel 2 satellite imagery revealed a weak EF0 tornado occurred in the Isney area. The tornado began south of Wildflower Road, tracking northeast across Poultry Road, causing a roughly 180-yard-wide corridor |
| 15:33 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Ene West Bend | Clarke, AL | Available Sentinel 2 satellite imagery revealed an EF1 tornado occurred in the Smyer area off of Highway 69. The tornado remained solely within forest staying just east of Highway 69. It tracked northeast for approximate |
| 15:52 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Se Woods Bluff | Clarke, AL | Available Sentinel 2 satellite imagery revealed that an EF1 tornado tracked across forested parts of Clarke County in the Campbell area just west of Highway 69. The tornado remained solely within the forest, causing an a |
| 16:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Sse Morvin | Clarke, AL | Tree down across AL 69 blocking both the northbound and southbound lanes. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2026 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of May 22, 2026
11 more have been surveyed in the United States that day, so far.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 22 | 4:37 AM CDT | EF0 | Hinds, MS | 2.0 | 175 | |||
| May 22 | 10:33 AM CDT | EF1 | Clarke, AL | 3.1 | 100 | |||
| May 22 | 10:43 AM CDT | EF1 | Marengo, AL | 2.3 | 150 | |||
| May 22 | 10:47 AM CDT | EF0 | Marengo, AL | 0.2 | 40 | |||
| May 22 | 10:52 AM CDT | EF1 | Clarke, AL | 2.2 | 250 | |||
| May 22 | 12:13 PM CDT | EF1 | Tuscaloosa, AL | 2.6 | 150 | |||
| May 22 | 12:57 PM CDT | EF1 | Cullman, AL | 8.7 | 300 | |||
| May 22 | 5:16 PM CDT | Unrated | Woodbury, IA | 0.6 | 0 | |||
| May 22 | 5:42 PM CDT | Unrated | Cass, NE | 0.1 | 0 | |||
| May 22 | 6:58 PM EDT | EF0 | Claiborne, TN | 1.5 | 75 | |||
| May 22 | 7:02 PM CDT | EF0 | Butler, KY | 0.3 | 30 |
What this means
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.
Sources
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.