Event Summary for Central Alabama
A long-lived windstorm produced by severe thunderstorms, known as a derecho, caused a widespread swath of
damage across Central Alabama during the early morning hours of February 26, 2008. Although there were some sporadic reports of light
tree damage and small hail west of Interstate 65, a more intense and widespread swath of damage started in southern Jefferson and
northern Shelby Counties between 3:30 am and 4:00 am. From there, the damage swath moved eastward, roughly parallel to Interstate 20,
reaching the Georgia border by 5:00 am. Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 to 70 mph were widespread in this damage swath, with occasional hurricane
force peak wind gusts, estimated just over 100 mph in some areas.
The National Weather Service has completed an aerial survey of the
damage that occurred early Tuesday morning. After combining all of
the information from the aerial survey and the ground surveys
conducted Tuesday afternoon... it has been concluded that... in
addition to widespread severe thunderstorm wind damage... three EF-1
tornadoes touched down across Central Alabama.
As the strong cold front continued eastward, additional damaging winds occurred in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina.
... Swath of Wind Damage...
Survey crews found a wide swath of 90 to 105 mph straight-line wind
damage. In this swath, hundreds of trees and numerous power lines
were toppled. Multiple structures including homes and businesses sustained damage.
The primary damage swath moved generally from west to
east... starting in the southern portion of Metro Birmingham and
continuing all the way to the Georgia state line. Significant
damage was reported in the following portions of counties:
Southern Jefferson.
Northeast Shelby.
Southern St. Clair.
Southern Calhoun.
Northern Talladega.
Southern Cleburne.
Northern Clay.
Northern Randolph.
Within this main damage swath... there were several areas of enhanced
damage... caused by tornadoes and straight line winds.
EF-1 Pell City Tornado - St. Clair County
EF-1 Highland Lakes Tornado - Shelby County
EF-1 Leeds Tornado - Jefferson County
Talladega & Calhoun Counties Wind Damage
Randolph County Wind Damage
Preliminary Local Storm Reports
In the map below, the orange shapes indicate approximate location of strongest part of thunderstorm line at the times
indicated. The yellow area outlines the location of the worst thunderstorm wind damage, and letter "T"s denote tornado locations..
Severe Weather Episode Data
www.weather.gov 
National Weather Service Forecast Office
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