Heat Persists in the South Central U.S. and Southwest; Heavy rains in the Desert Southwest and Central Plains

Sweltering heat remains across the South-Central Plains, Lower/Middle Mississippi Valley, and the Southwest this week with limited nighttime relief. Thunderstorms will bring heavy rainfall leading to localized flash flooding in portions of the Desert Southwest and central Plains. Isolated strong to severe thunderstorms are possible across portions of the central Plains into the Northeast. 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.