23 tornadoes touched down in Alabama in May 2025, across 15 counties. That is more than double the May average of 5.1 over the previous 30 years, and the most in a May since 2009.
The busiest day was May 20, 2025, when 16 tornadoes crossed Calhoun, Cleburne, Colbert and 8 other counties.
The strongest was an EF2 near Athens on May 20, 2025, with a 13.2-mile path up to 125 yards wide. No deaths were reported; 1 person was injured.
5 of the 23 touched down at night, between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Tornadoes by day
Tornado by tornado
As they happened, with notes from the damage surveys.
4 hours later
6:21 PMEF0 near Opelika
A weak EF0 tornado embedded in a line of severe thunderstorms occurred in the Salem area on the evening of May 3. The tornado began over a wooded area east of Lee Road 151, northeast of the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) Test Track.
7 days later
10:08 AMEF1 in Geneva County
This is a continuation of the Holmes county tornado. The Geneva county portion of this tornado is rated EF1 while the Holmes county portion is EF2. This tornado began southwest of Bodie Lane and southeast of Tobe Retherford where it uprooted hardwood trees and snapped large limbs.
10 days later
11:03 AMEF1 in Lauderdale County
The Lauderdale County Emergency Management Agency provided Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) imagery of the tornado damage path. This imagery, along with video footage of the tornado moving off the Tennessee River, was analyzed to determine the path of this tornado.
5 hours later
4:10 PMEF1 near Muscle Shoals
The tornado touched down near Ford City where initial tree limbs snapped then rapidly began uprooting numerous trees north of River Road. Several trees were uprooted on River Road. One of these trees fell on a home and the drywall fell and scratched a child, resulting in one injury.
- 4:51 PM
Unrated tornado near Decatur
A waterspout developed over Wheeler Reservoir south of the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant. The waterspout moved east-northeast towards Round Island Creek Public Use Area crossing from Lawrence into Limestone County.
- 5:09 PM
EF2 near Athens
The tornado was initially observed and filmed by multiple storm chasers west of Interstate 65 near Tanner. As it crossed Interstate 65, numerous trees were uprooted or snapped. The tornado tracked eastward, passing south of Huntsville-Brownsferry Road and moving towards Greenbrier Parkway.
- 5:09 PM
EF1 near Athens
Drone imagery indicated a brief tornado touched down along Dement Road where a tree was knocked down. The tornado continued east moving over mainly wooded areas. S. Highway 72. S. Highway 72, the tornado lifted just before Cox Road.
- 5:11 PM
EF1 near Athens
The tornado began south of Highway 72, between York Lane and Lucas Ferry Road. Significant impacts were observed near the intersection of Lucas Ferry Road and Sanderfer Road, where numerous wooden power poles were snapped, and cross members were broken.
- 5:51 PM
EF1 near Huntsville
A tornado began by snapping several hardwood and softwood trees on the eastern side of Blossomwood in Huntsville, at the base of Monte Sano Mountain. Trees were downed and witness statements confirmed the tornado touchdown near the intersection of Randolph Avenue and Toll Gate Road.
- 5:52 PM
EF1 near Hartselle
S. Highway 31. Several large branches were found down along with trees uprooted along Van Bridge Road. A tree was found snapped at the trunk along Vaughn Bridge Road where the tornado reached its maximum intensity of EF-1 with a wind speed of 105 MPH.
- 6:07 PM
EF2 near Huntsville
The tornado touched down on Acuff Road, downing a large swath of hardwood trees just east of Boulder Trail. A barn sustained roof damage here as well, with some uplifting of the roof and peeling back of a few pieces of tin.
- 6:14 PM
EF1 near Scottsboro
The tornado touched down just southeast of Highway 65 in Trenton, producing large limb damage on County Road (CR) 20. The tornado continued and strengthened along CR 20, producing sporadic hardwood and softwood tree damage just north of Little Nashville.
- 7:46 PM
EF1 near Arab
A tornado touched down east of the Morgan County-Marshall County line, on the northern portion of the Cherokee Ridge Golf Course. Multiple uprooted hardwood trees were observed on several holes in this area.
- 7:47 PM
EF0 near Scottsboro
The tornado initiated its path near the Highway 71 and Highway 35 intersection, close to the Section baseball fields. Throughout its duration, the primary damage indicators included downed small and large tree branches.
- 8:33 PM
EF1 near Boaz
A tornado began just east of Graves Street in the Crossville area, where a large tree was uprooted and a large branch (8 to 12 inches in diameter) was broken off of a tree 20 yards away. Additionally, a small porch on a nearby residence was damaged and lost most of its roofing.
- 8:49 PM
EF1 near Fort Payne
A tornado tracked about 1/3 of a mile just east of County Road (CR) 83. At this location, one large tree was uprooted and a 3 to 5 inch branch was broken off of a tree 10 yards away. The tornado quickly moved northeast and strengthened to EF-1 intensity as it approached Highway 176.
- 10:38 PM
EF1 near Anniston
This tornado appears to have touched down somewhere in the restricted area of the Pelham Range based on radar. The first accessible damage occurred along Calhoun County Road (CR) 109 (Bynum Leatherwood Rd) just north of the Lloyds Chapel Cemetery, where several large trees were uprooted.
- 11:28 PM
EF1 in Cleburne County
3 miles east of CR 49. The tornado proceeded to destroy a half of an old barn, lofting and tossing debris both upstream and downstream, as well as laterally. A large portion of the barn roof landed on a home about 30 yards downstream, with several missiles embedded in the roof as well as the surrounding yard.
4 hours later
2:58 AMEF1 in Bullock County
A brief tornado touched down in an open pasture east of County Road 37, where a few large branches were snapped along a tree line and one tree was uprooted in the field. The tornado tracked to the east where it crossed through a small hunting club and uprooted more trees.
5 days later
3:34 PMEF0 in Jackson County
The initial damage was observed in the Cave Springs area near County Road (CR) 54, where large tree branches were downed as the tornado tracked east-southeast. Additional indicators of tree damage were found near the intersection of CR 53 and CR 147.
2 days later
5:51 PMEF0 near Madison
A brief tornado touched down on Redstone Arsenal just off Ranger Road. The tornado bent fencing while entering the property, then proceeded to shift dozens of 500 lb. storage tanks, tossing about 3 of them.
2 days later
8:03 AMEF0 near Prichard
The tornado first touched down just west of Orchard Dr, north of Howells Ferry Rd. It continued northeast and moved across the Princeton Woods subdivision. After that it crossed Moffett Rd near University Ave and came to an end.
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