Tuscaloosa County is a county in the northwest-central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama and is the center of commerce, education, industry, health care, and entertainment for the region.

During the late afternoon and early evening of April 27, 2011, a violent, high-end EF4 multiple-vortex tornado destroyed 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 360 tornadoes in the 2011 Super Outbreak, the largest tornado outbreak in United States history. The tornado reached a maximum path width of 1.5 miles (2.4 km) during its track through Tuscaloosa, and again 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 dissipating. This was the third tornado to strike the city of Tuscaloosa in the past decade, and the second in two weeks.