© NWSRadar image from the National Weather Service forecast office in Huntsville when a tornado warning was issued for DeKalb County on Friday night 4.3.15. The weather service confirmed on Saturday that an EF-1 tornado touched down briefly in the Ider community.
The weather service classified the tornado as an EF-1 with top wind speeds estimated at 105 mph.
It's the first confirmed tornado in north Alabama in 2015 and the first in the state since Jan. 4.
Earlier Saturday, the weather service surveyed damage in Madison County but made a preliminary determination that straight-line winds were to blame and not a tornado.
The weather service said there was widespread damage to trees in the Ider community where the storm tracked for 2.29 miles in the span of three minutes. One home had significant roof damage with the majority of the roof removed. Other homes in the area had minor roof or structural damage.
The tornado touched down at 9:05 p.m. and lifted at 9:08, according to the weather service.
The tornado first touched down along County Road 783, snapping and uprooting trees. The twister tracked just north of County Road 776 before intersecting County Road 788.
The tornado reached its max strength just west of Alabama Highway 75, which is where the residence lost its roof and an anchored outbuilding was destroyed.
The tornado then crossed Highway 75, snapping and uprooting trees on both sides of the road before weakening as it crossed County Road 372.
makes no sense at all:
"It's the first confirmed tornado in north Alabama in 2015 and the first in the state since Jan. 4."
The first in the state this year... excluding that one in January...." ?