Regional Outbreaks of Severe Weather Through Early Next Week; Early Season Heat Wave across the South

Active spring pattern across the center of our nation with several episodes of severe weather and heavy rainfall expected into next week. The potential for very large hail, long track tornadoes, severe wind gusts, frequent cloud to ground lightning strikes and flash flooding are in the outlook. Furthermore, dangerous early season heat wave continues for the Gulf Coast states into early next week. Read More >

Summary

A series of supercell thunderstorms swept across the Mid-South and Southeast states on February 5-6, 2008. The storms produced multiple tornadoes across Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, causing at least 50 fatalities and many more injuries (additional information on the weather pattern that produced these storms).

Storm surveys were completed on two significant tornadoes that occurred within the NWS Huntsville area of responsibility (all times specified are based on radar estimates):

Lawrence and Morgan Counties, Alabama: EF-4 (approximately 3:00 AM to 3:20 AM)
Jackson County, Alabama: EF-4 (approximately 5:17 AM to 5:34 AM)

Two additional weaker tornadoes were found to have occurred:

Marshall County, Alabama: EF-1 (brief touchdown at approximately 4:45 AM)
Cullman County, Alabama: EF-0 (brief touchdown at approximately 4:00 AM)

Tornado Tracks

The two tornado paths are marked on the map of the Huntsville county warning and forecast area (CWFA) below. Click on the affected county for more information about the tornado, including damage pictures, estimated wind speeds, and EF scale ratings.