48
Recorded events
2
Direct deaths
20
Direct injuries
$13.6M
Property damage
Tornado in Lauderdale County, Alabama: 48 recorded events between 1951 and 2025. The strongest on record measured F3. That places the county #414 nationally and #24 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Lauderdale County, Alabama: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Lauderdale County is the 2000s, when 13 of the county's 48 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 Lauderdale County archive, tornado makes up 2.6% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #414 for this hazard and #24 within Alabama, putting it in the 85.9 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
May is the peak month for tornado in Lauderdale County with 15 recorded events, while Jan 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
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995-05-18 | EF4 | 29.0 mi | 1,000 yd | Touched down here |
| 1964-03-09 | EF3 | 5.2 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 1994-06-26 | EF3 | 38.0 mi | 880 yd | Crossed in |
| 1988-11-04 | EF3 | 7.0 mi | 200 yd | Crossed in |
| 1967-10-24 | EF3 | 11.9 mi | 100 yd | Touched down here |
| 1965-03-17 | EF3 | 29.8 mi | 10 yd | Crossed in |
| 1958-04-05 | EF2 | 19.2 mi | 100 yd | Crossed in |
| 2023-03-24 | EF2 | 3.8 mi | 300 yd | Touched down here |
| 2015-12-23 | EF2 | 14.9 mi | 400 yd | Touched down here |
| 2008-05-08 | EF2 | 12.6 mi | 250 yd | Crossed in |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 9, 1964 | F3 | 2 | 2 | $250K | |
| Nov 16, 1951 | F2 | 0 | 6 | $3K | |
| Jun 27, 1994 | F3 | 0 | 3 | $500K | |
| May 8, 2008 | RHODESVILLE | EF1 | 0 | 2 | $300K |
| Mar 21, 1976 | F2 | 0 | 2 | $25K | |
| Dec 24, 2015 | WATERLOO | EF2 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Feb 21, 2014 | ANDERSON | EF1 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Apr 27, 2011 | SMITHSONIA | EF1 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 2025 | WHEELER LAKE SOUTH | EF0 | $8K |
| May 20, 2025 | WRIGHT | EF1 | $0 |
| Apr 6, 2025 | CENTER STAR | EF1 | $3.4M |
| Apr 6, 2025 | WILSON LAKE | EF1 | $3.4M |
| Apr 3, 2025 | WATERLOO | EF1 | $0 |
| Feb 16, 2025 | ROGERSVILLE | EF1 | $0 |
| Feb 16, 2025 | WOODLAWN | EF1 | $0 |
| Mar 25, 2023 | GRASSY | EF1 | $0 |
| Mar 25, 2023 | FLORENCE | EF2 | $3.9M |
| Mar 22, 2022 | TOONERSVILLE | EF0 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Lauderdale County
- Thunderstorm Wind 1,328
- Hail 212
- Flash Flood 162
- Flood 48
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A tornado crossed Wilson Lake from Colbert County and moved into the Aqua Vista community with several trees uprooted and large limbs snapped. The tornado tracked to the east-northeast. Drone imagery courtesy of Lauderdale County EMA supplemented the ground survey for areas inaccessible by roads. With this data, it was determined that the tornado then tracked north of County Road 31 where several more trees were uprooted before impacting a neighborhood off of Bull Run road. There, several houses were missing shingles and large portions of fencing. Outdoor sheds had a collapse of most walls and tree damage was also present. The tornado then crossed County Road 33, snapping and uprooting more hardwood trees, and then crossed U.S. Highway 72 just southeast of Elgin, AL. Drone imagery indicated areas of trees uprooted or with large areas of limbs snapped as the tornado crossed Second Creek before lifting just south of Toonersville, where damage to the tree canopy was noted.
Aerial UAV-drone data provided by Lauderdale County Emergency Management confirmed that an EF-1 tornado tracked from the Center Star area to near Pine Haven Shores.|The damage path began near County Road 107 and tracked east-southeast through the Bluewater Creek area. Numerous hardwood trees were uprooted, and a farm shed sustained roof damage near County Road 33. Additional uprooted trees were observed east of Bluewater Creek, extending through the intersection of Highway 101 and U.S. Highway 72. Sparse damage was noted north of U.S. Highway 72, approaching the Pine Haven Shores area, where the tornado dissipated.
A tornado with peak winds of 90 mph began a path near the intersection of County Roads 14 and 16, about 2 miles northwest of Oakland and tracked into the Central Heights community. The tornado produced moderate damage to five homes and uprooted several trees in its path. One of the homes was destroyed along Waterloo Road near Feddler's One Stop Market in Oakland where two men were slightly injured by flying glass. A mobile home was also overturned. The tornado widened to 200 yards before narrowing to around 20 yards toward the end of its path.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Lauderdale County, Alabama?
48 tornado events are recorded in Lauderdale County between 1951 and 2025, causing 2 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Lauderdale County?
The strongest tornado on record in Lauderdale County measured F3.
Where does the tornado data for Lauderdale 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 Lauderdale County, Alabama.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/alabama/lauderdale-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.