The National Weather Service, in what has become a weekly routine, was out in the field on Saturday surveying damage from overnight severe weather.

The National Weather Service in Huntsville said on Saturday afternoon that a deadly tornado in northern Madison County near Hazel Green was an EF-3 with top winds estimated at 160 mph — one of the strongest tornadoes so far this year. Five people were also injured by that storm.

The latest tornado death brings the total in Alabama to nine so far this year, according to weather service data.

The Hazel Green tornado had a path length of 12.10 miles and a path width of 215 yards, according to preliminary information from the weather service. It touched down at 3:09 a.m. this morning (Saturday) in northern Madison County and tracked into Tennessee.

It toppled trees onto several homes and heavily damaged numerous structures and stores on the east side of Highway 431 near the Lincoln Road intersection. The degree of damage is what prompted the EF-3 rating, the weather service said.

The tornado tracked east-northeast as it neared Borderline Road on the Tennessee border. Houses were heavily damaged in that location, and the walls totally collapsed in two of them. One person died in a single-family home here that was destroyed. The tornado went on to destroy a home under construction near Myers Road. The tornado continued north and east and destroyed several farm buildings from Mason Road eastward onto Echols Road. The tornado lifted just after crossing into far southeastern Lincoln County, Tenn.

The National Weather Service in Birmingham said it was sending a survey team to Etowah County near Sardis City today. Another team is expected to go to Winston and Marion counties on Sunday to look at damage there, the weather service said.

More information could be available later today, the weather service said.