2011 Tuscaloosa–Birmingham tornado

During the early afternoon and evening hours of April 27, 2011, a violent, deadly and destructive high-end EF4 multi-vortex tornado, commonly known as either the Tuscaloosa–Birmingham tornado, or more simply the Tuscaloosa tornado, devastated portions of Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, Alabama, as well as smaller communities and rural areas between the two cities. It is one of the costliest tornadoes on record, and was one of the 367 tornadoes in the 2011 Super Outbreak, the largest tornado outbreak in United States history.

First touching down around 4:43 p.m. CDT in Greene County, Alabama, the tornado rapidly intensified and eventually reached a maximum path width of 1.5 miles (2.4 km) when it crossed I-65 north of Birmingham, attaining estimated wind speeds of 190 mph (310 km/h) shortly after passing through the city. It then went on to impact parts of Birmingham at high-end EF4 intensity, before rapidly weakening afterwards and eventually dissipating. In total, the tornado was on the ground for approximately an hour and a half. In its wake, catastrophic damage was left across the areas. Multiple television stations captured the tornado live during its track, and it is one of the most documented tornadoes of the entire Super Outbreak due to its proximity to the Birmingham and Tuscaloosa metropolitan areas.

2011 was a prolific year for tornadoes and tornado-associated fatalities, with multiple destructive outbreaks. In total, this specific tornado killed 64 people, with well over 1,500 injuries as a result. This was the third tornado to strike the city of Tuscaloosa in the past decade, and the second in two weeks. The tornado is the second deadliest tornado in Alabama's history, just behind the Hackleburg–Phil Campbell tornado that occurred on the same day. The tornado is also the costliest tornado in the state. Additionally, the tornado caused approximately $2.4 billion (2011 USD), making it, at the time, the costliest tornado in the United States, before it was soon dethroned just a month later by the Joplin EF5 tornado in Missouri. Following the storm, then-President Barack Obama toured the city of Tuscaloosa on April 29 and the catastrophic damage observed there.