Severe Weather History


Hazard archive · 1950 — present

Tornado in Colbert County, Alabama

50

Recorded events

2

Direct deaths

68

Direct injuries

$7.8M

Property damage

Tornado in Colbert County, Alabama: 50 recorded events between 1953 and 2025. The strongest on record measured F3. That places the county #372 nationally and #21 statewide for this hazard.

Decade by decade

Tornado in Colbert County, Alabama: events per decade

Tornado in Colbert County, Alabama: recorded events per decade
Tornado in Colbert County, Alabama: recorded events per decade

Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.

The busiest decade for tornado in Colbert County is the 2010s, when 14 of the county's 50 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.

Within the Colbert County archive, tornado makes up 3.7% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #372 for this hazard and #21 within Alabama, putting it in the 86.9 percentile of all U.S. counties.

Seasonality

Events by month

2Jan
4Feb
7Mar
11Apr
6May
2Jun
5Jul
1Aug
1Sep
3Oct
4Nov
4Dec

Apr is the peak month for tornado in Colbert County with 11 recorded events, while Aug is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.

Tornado tracks

Paths crossing this county

DateScalePath lengthMax widthOrigin
1953-02-20EF30.1 mi20 ydTouched down here
1988-11-04EF360.0 mi200 ydCrossed in
1967-10-24EF315.0 mi10 ydTouched down here
1965-03-17EF329.8 mi10 ydTouched down here
1964-03-09EF310.4 mi10 ydCrossed in
1958-04-05EF219.2 mi100 ydTouched down here
2019-12-16EF28.2 mi250 ydTouched down here
2016-11-29EF210.9 mi100 ydCrossed in
2011-05-25EF22.2 mi100 ydTouched down here
2008-05-08EF212.6 mi250 ydTouched down here
Source: NOAA SPC SVRGIS tornado tracks · path geometry intersected with county boundaries

Significant events

Deadliest on record

DateLocationScaleDeathsInjuriesDamage
Feb 20, 1953F318$25K
Apr 6, 1958F211$250K
Mar 17, 1965F3022$250K
Nov 4, 1988F3016$2.5M
Dec 20, 1957F207$25K
Apr 6, 2025PRIDEEF105$0
Nov 30, 2016CROOKED OAKEF102$0
Aug 16, 1985F202$250K
Source: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events · dates UTC

Most recent

Latest recorded events

DateLocationMagnitudeDamage
May 20, 2025FORD CITYEF1$608K
Apr 6, 2025PRIDEEF1$0
Apr 6, 2025PRIDEEF1$0
Feb 16, 2025VALDOSTAEF1$0
Apr 2, 2024EMCO LISTERHILL JCTEF1$0
Jan 2, 2022NORALA JCTEF0$0
Mar 24, 2020MAUDEF1$0
Feb 5, 2020BISHOPEF1$0
Dec 16, 2019COLBERT HGTSEF2$0
Dec 16, 2019RED ROCKEF1$0
Source: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events · dates UTC · recent entries may be preliminary

Other hazards here

More from Colbert County

County overview →

From the record

What the reports say

Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain

Quick answers

Frequently asked

How many tornado events are on record in Colbert County, Alabama?

50 tornado events are recorded in Colbert County between 1953 and 2025, causing 2 direct deaths.

What is the strongest tornado recorded in Colbert County?

The strongest tornado on record in Colbert County measured F3.

Where does the tornado data for Colbert County come from?

All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.

Cite this page

“Tornado in Colbert County, Alabama.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/alabama/colbert-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.


Historical reference only — for official alerts visit weather.gov