Tornadoes · United States · Alabama

Tornadoes in Perry County, Alabama

40 tornadoes have crossed Perry County since 1950, 41st of the 67 counties in Alabama with a tornado on record, an average of one every 1.9 years. They have killed 14 people and injured 238. 2 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The United States rated tornadoes on Ted Fujita’s F scale until 31 January 2007 and on the Enhanced Fujita scale after it. Both run from 0 to 5, and both rate the damage rather than measure the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F0 / EF040 to 72 mph on the F scale, 65 to 85 mph on the EF scale

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F1 / EF173 to 112 mph on the F scale, 86 to 110 mph on the EF scale

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2 / EF2113 to 157 mph on the F scale, 111 to 135 mph on the EF scale

    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. F3 / EF3158 to 206 mph on the F scale, 136 to 165 mph on the EF scale

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4 / EF4207 to 260 mph on the F scale, 166 to 200 mph on the EF scale

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5 / EF5261 to 318 mph on the F scale, over 200 mph on the EF scale

    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.

Now

Tornadoes
40
Deaths
14
Injuries
238
F4 and above
2
Worst on record
EF4, April 27, 2011

The deadliest in Perry County

  1. F4, Hale, Perry, Bibb and Shelby counties, AlabamaMay 27, 19737 killed, 199 injured
  2. EF4 Enterprise tornado, Mississippi and AlabamaApril 27, 20117 killed, 17 injured

The strongest

  1. F4, Hale, Perry, Bibb and Shelby counties, AlabamaMay 27, 1973F4, 139.1 mi (224 km)
  2. EF4 Enterprise tornado, Mississippi and AlabamaApril 27, 2011EF4, 122.0 mi (196 km)
  3. EF3, Hale, Perry, Bibb and Chilton counties, AlabamaMarch 25, 2021EF3, 79.7 mi (128 km)
  4. EF3 Centreville–Montevallo tornado, AlabamaMarch 30, 2022EF3, 29.2 mi (47 km)
  5. F3, Perry County, AlabamaDecember 11, 1961F3, 9.4 mi (15 km)
  6. EF2, Perry and Chilton counties, AlabamaJanuary 23, 2012EF2, 39.8 mi (64 km)
  7. EF2, Hale and Perry counties, AlabamaJanuary 12, 2023EF2, 21.9 mi (35 km)
  8. EF2, Perry County, AlabamaMarch 30, 2022EF2, 6.0 mi (10 km)
  9. F2, Perry County, AlabamaDecember 17, 1961F2, 5.4 mi (9 km)
  10. F2, Perry County, AlabamaSeptember 20, 1979F2, 3.0 mi (5 km)

Every year with a tornado

The 21 years of the 76 in the record with a tornado in Perry County. Each year links to every tornado in Alabama that year.

YearTornadoesDeathsInjuriesStrongest
202522EF1
20233EF2
202222EF3
2021213EF3
20201EF1
20195EF1
20181EF0
20141EF1
20124EF2
20114717EF4
20101EF1
20092EF1
20071EF0
20011F1
20003F0
19961F1
197912F2
19741F2
197317199F4
19671F2
196123F3

Every tornado that crossed Perry County

40 tornadoes, newest first. 1 of them touched down in a neighboring state and ran in, so the record files it under that state rather than Alabama.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 15, 20256:38 PM CDTEF0Hale21.6700
February 16, 202512:52 AM CSTEF1Hale18.42002
January 12, 202311:30 AM CSTEF1Perry17.3500
January 12, 202310:47 AM CSTEF2Hale21.9500
January 3, 202312:10 PM CSTEF1Perry0.1100
March 30, 20229:53 PM CDTEF3Centreville–Montevallo tornado29.21,2002
March 30, 20229:33 PM CDTEF2Perry6.0620
May 4, 20215:19 PM CDTEF0Perry24.8620
March 25, 20214:26 PM CDTEF3Hale79.72,30013
April 12, 202010:14 PM CDTEF1Perry2.4350
December 16, 20199:03 PM CSTEF0Hale5.3300
April 14, 20193:21 AM CDTEF0Perry6.7400
March 14, 20197:27 PM CDTEF0Dallas2.9300
March 14, 20196:37 PM CDTEF1Perry9.4300
March 14, 20196:19 PM CDTEF0Perry4.5100
December 1, 20182:34 PM CSTEF0Perry0.375
November 17, 20141:11 AM CSTEF1Perry3.5300
March 2, 20129:15 PM CSTEF1Perry18.9700
January 26, 201211:00 AM CSTEF0Perry0.6100
January 23, 20124:37 AM CSTEF2Perry39.8880
January 23, 20124:33 AM CSTEF1Perry2.1300
April 27, 20118:50 PM CDTEF1Perry4.2100$1.3 million
April 27, 20115:42 PM CDTEF4Enterprise tornado122.01,050717$26 million
April 15, 20116:25 PM CDTEF2Perry0.8500$38,000
April 15, 20116:00 PM CDTEF0Perry4.7150$23,000
November 30, 20104:15 AM CSTEF1Perry0.150$25,000
April 19, 20096:28 PM CDTEF1Perry1.2100$30,000
April 19, 20096:04 PM CDTEF1Perry4.050$10,000
February 13, 20075:01 PM CSTEF0Hale6.525$55,000
October 13, 20012:38 PM CDTF1Perry1.550$110,000
December 16, 20001:29 PM CSTF0Perry0.730$4,000
March 10, 20009:11 PM CSTF0Bibb12.0100$40,000
March 10, 20008:56 PM CSTF0Perry7.0100$40,000
March 6, 19963:20 AM CSTF1Perry1.580$100,000
September 20, 19795:30 PM CDTF2Perry3.0272$50,000 to $500,000
April 22, 19741:35 PM CDTF2Perry2.0800$50,000 to $500,000
May 27, 19736:20 PM CDTF4Hale139.18007199$5 million to $50 million
March 6, 19675:00 PM GMT-6F2Perry2.3200$500,000 to $5 million
December 17, 19618:00 PM GMT-6F2Perry5.41001$5,000 to $50,000
December 11, 19617:00 PM GMT-6F3Perry9.41002$50,000 to $500,000

Nearby

Warnings in force in Perry CountyThe forecast for Perry CountyThe live radar over Perry CountyEvery county in Alabama

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.