Heat Across the Center of the Nation; Severe Thunderstorms Across the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley

Heat expands across the Desert Southwest, Plains, Mississippi Valley and Midwest into Monday. Fire weather concerns continue for portions of the Intermountain West. Active monsoonal moisture fuels thunderstorms over the Southwest with possible flash flooding. Tropical cyclone Fausto in the Pacific, should weaken as it approaches Hawaii; Dangerous surf, swells and rip currents are expected. 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.