As tornado sirens sounded Wednesday night — almost four weeks following the April 27 super outbreak — many Limestone Countians experienced a familiar dread.

Some residents in eastern Limestone County, near neighborhoods where homes were leveled in the April string of twisters, emerged to new scenes of chaos Thursday after the winds felled numerous trees and power lines and damaged some homes and outbuildings.

Forecasters with the National Weather Service in Huntsville confirmed over the weekend that three small tornadoes struck Wednesday night and into Thursday morning, while another hit Lauderdale County and one touched down in Madison County.

This smaller outbreak followed the tragic destruction in Joplin, Mo., on May 22, and the Super Outbreak on April 27 that killed 238 people in Alabama. Kurt Weber with the NWS said 55 tornadoes have been confirmed statewide that day and surveying is ongoing. The only EF-5 to strike the state went through Limestone County at about 4 p.m., killing four people here and damaging more than 700 homes in the communities of Tanner and East Limestone. The EF-5, one of seven twisters to come through the county on April 27, killed as many as 78 people along its path through Franklin, Lawrence, Limestone and Madison counties.

While the tornadoes last week rattled the nerves of many locals who experienced the nightmare of April 27, Weber said the spring tornado season should be over.

“We’re generally done with the tornado threat through fall,” he said. “It’s not out of the question to get an isolated one in summer but it’s much harder for them to develop with no strong winds or fronts dipping down.”

June, July and August are more likely to bring severe thunderstorms, hailstorms or downbursts than tornadoes, Weber said.

In Alabama, a secondary tornado season typically occurs in October and November, although at times, twisters have become more frequent in fall than in spring.

“It tends to switch between the two,” Weber said of the seasonal frequency. “The good news is that if you look back at the bigger outbreaks in history, you’ll find they tend to happen every 30 to 40 years.”

While Limestone County is placed under tornado watches and warnings several times each spring and fall, and small tornadoes often topple sheds and trees, deadly outbreaks are more rare. The most memorable to the people of Limestone County was the April 3, 1974, Super outbreak, when 16 people were killed here by back-to-back F-4 and F-5 tornadoes that struck Tanner and East Limestone along nearly the same path as this April’s storms.

May 25 storms

The NWS reported the three twisters that struck Wednesday evolved from the same circulation that moved ahead of a squall line. Each tornado was an EF-0, the ranking given to tornadoes with the lowest wind speed.

Tornado 1: This struck at about 11:40 p.m. on Davis Road at Snake Road and traveled 1.9 miles to Stanton Road.

Its rotation was about 80 mph. Large trees were uprooted, causing damage to at least one home and a shed.

Tornado 2: This twister touched down on Alabama 99 at Buck Island Road at 11:49 p.m. and traveled 3.9 miles before lifting on Alabama 127 near Coffman Road.

It had wind speeds of up to 85 mph. It felled several trees, damaging a home and a barn.

Tornado 3: This 85 mph funnel cloud dropped onto Thach Road at midnight, crossed Alabama 251 and traveled 4.6 miles before lifting near the Madison County line on Alabama 53. Several trees were uprooted or snapped.