4:52 a.m., 8/9/11, Northeast Huntsville, Alabama
This lightning caused a power outage in the area.


4:51 a.m., 8/9/11, Northeast Huntsville, Alabama

2:10 p.m. 8/16/85 Jasper, Alabama tornado. Photo taken by Douglas Pearson of the Daily Mountain Eagle newspaper. Source: Obsevations of the Hurricane Danny Tornado Outbreak of 16 August 1985, by Eugene McCaul, Jr.


4:37 p.m. 8/16/85 Redstone Arsenal Airfield tornado, Huntsville, Alabama. Photo by Andrew Junkins, Avionics Supervisor. Source: Obsevations of the Hurricane Danny Tornado Outbreak of 16 August 1985, by Eugene McCaul, Jr.


4:38 p.m. 8/16/85 Redstone Arsenal Airfield tornado, Huntsville, Alabama. Photo by Andrew Junkins, Avionics Supervisor. Source: Obsevations of the Hurricane Danny Tornado Outbreak of 16 August 1985, by Eugene McCaul, Jr.

In a very very interesting paper authored by Eugene McCaul, Jr. about the tornadoes that struck Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee on August 16, 1985, he describes the atmospheric conditions that led to an unusually violent tornado outbreak for a land-falling tropical system. These tornadoes were spawned by the remnants of Hurricane Danny, which had made landfall on the Louisiana Coast the previous day. This article includes photographs of two of the hurricane-spawned tornadoes, the first such documentation to be published, showing that the tornadoes displayed multiple-vortex structure and formed beneath wall clouds.

Account by Eugene W. McCaul, Jr. and Dave Gallaher in Storm Track:
Their account is about two thirds of the way down the page on the link, but here are some excerpts.

It was at 11AM CDT, right during my seminar, that the first Alabama tornado (an F2) struck Parrish, a small town about 80 miles southwest of Huntsville. Shortly thereafter, the town of Jasper was hit by an F2, and before the day was over some 53 other communities had reported tornado damage in Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi. The radio station I listened to on my way to and from lunch didn't say anything (!) about the storms, at least while I was tuned in, so I didn't know anything about the remarkable goings-on to my southwest. In fact, I was beginning to wonder whether Huntsville would even get a decent rain that day.

After lunch, the rain finally got cranked up to moderate, with big drops of the kind you see in thundershowers; but there wasn't any thunder or lightning. I was working in my windowless, interior office in one of the huge NASA warehouse-type labs at 3:30, when I heard a gust of wind on the roof above me. Still, there was no thunder, so I didn't give it a second thought." At this point, Dave Gallaher was watching a just formed tornadic storm, from 4-5 miles to its east...

I wedged my way through the crowd of 30 co-workers, standing at the North Entrance of our building to get a look at a magnificent wall cloud with a multiple vortex tornado just about three miles northwest, moving north. To the north, there was a very ominous band of low clouds extending east from the wall cloud, but at first, I couldn't tell if the band represented the mesocyclone's pseudo-warm front or gust front. Since the storms were moving north and there was no evidence of a gust front to the west, I surmised that the low cloud band was probably the gust front--and that it had caused the winds I had heard a few minutes earlier. Cloud bases under this band were ragged, almost blurry looking and very low, perhaps only 300 feet above the ground while to the south was about 1,500 feet. A moderate shower of large raindrops continued to fall, accompanied by a 10-15 knot south-southwest wind, but there was still no thunder or lightning. 'Does anyone have a camera?' I pleaded, but nobody was listening.

I noted the time on my watch, 3:42PM CDT, rushed back to my office, put up the 'gone fishin' ' (i.e. chasin') sign, and took off for my apartment to get a camera. As I tore out of the building, the loudspeakers in the halls declared: 'Warning! A tornado has been sighted on Redstone Arsenal. All personnel take cover in designated areas until further notice.' Of course, at that point, there was no longer any danger from this particular storm--at least not to the Arsenal. - - - It was early rush hour as I departed, and rush hour in Huntsville is not a pretty sight--even on a dry day. I made several unauthorized U-turns in order to get home 'efficiently,' and the native Alabamans seemed to be impressed; a couple of them even honked their horns at me. When I got to my apartment, the other tenants were all outside, looking to the northeast at the departing storm. The radio crackled with tornado warnings for Madison and Limestone Counties. I grabbed my camera and headed west.

Now away from the traffic, the radio was starting to issue tornado warnings on another round of storms, moving up from Cullman and Morgan Counties --and there was a report of a tornado on the ground south of Decatur, which is about 20 miles southwest of Huntsville. I headed northwest on Route 72 toward Athens, hoping to intercept the mesocyclone, which I figured was moving through Decatur at that time. The radio was remarkably free of static.

After a few miles, I encountered a very heavy rainshower -with visibility down to a quarter-mile and figured the storms were already on me. I found a spot on the side of the road, where there was an open view to the south, and waited for the rain to stop. A bright line appeared on the southern horizon and another band of low clouds swept over, but behind this gust front there was no evidence of a wall cloud to the west. However, now the view to the east, back towards Huntsville, looked promising, so I headed back towards town.

To the east, there were several purplish bands of north-south ragged low bases, with one especially dark base behind Rainbow Mountain a 400 foot hill that was scraping the cloud bases just to my southwest. There was rotation almost everywhere in the low clouds, and I noted on my tape recorder that I expected to see a tornado any minute. As I continued to race east toward the presumed well cloud, a small break appeared in the stratiform deck above me, giving me a brief glimpse of big gray towers -leaning sharply to the north and penetrating the mid-level clouds higher up. In hopes of catching e tornado, I blew off picture options and headed north on a road named, appropriately, Wall Highway.

The dark base to my southeast emerged from behind Rainbow Mountain, but to my disappointment I could see no tornado; and the wall cloud was losing its shape as it elongated along a north-south axis. Comparing notes the next day with the obs taken by NWS observers at Huntsville Airport, which was about seven miles south of me, I found that they had observed a tornado for eight minutes from this particular base at the very same time that Rainbow Mountain was blocking my view!...

I believe the key to the potency of the Danny outbreak was the development of a narrow dry intrusion, which showed up clearly in Danny's southwest quadrant in the satellite photos. This is something to look for in preparing for a hurricane tornado chase...Most importantly, don't leave your camera at home in favor of an umbrella. That way, if you get lucky, you'll have something of your own to show for it!"

My memories of the day:

As the center of Danny travelled through Mississippi, North Alabama was in a prime location for rotating storms. I was in Huntsville at the time and as I recall there was a lot of light rain and not too much (if any) thunder with these storms. My Dad witnessed the Redstone Arsenal tornado shown above while standing outside of his office in Huntsville's Research Park.

I remember standing outside on that day watching the clouds. I don't know why I didn't go look for the storm. I don't think we had very good access to radar then and my parents would have had a fit if they knew I was out doing that. I did, in fact, tape the coverage on local television stations out of Huntsville and Birmingham.

Here are some videos of the television coverage from that day which I uploaded that capture the event well.


WAAY 31 TV Huntsville Coverage - Gary Dobbs, Part 1


WAAY 31 TV Huntsville Coverage - Gary Dobbs, Part 2


8/16/85 The Weather Channel Coverage - John Hope, et. al.

...

If you live in North Alabama and have in interest in the weather, or have children interested in science, consider attending the secon annual Rocket City Weather Fest this Saturday, September 17, 2011 at UA Huntsville's Shelby Hall from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public. Find out all of the details at www.rocketcityweatherfest.com.

...

12:22 Columbus Nexrad


Lightning photo taken at Oak Park in NE Huntsville, Alabama at 12:21 a.m. 9/15/11.

...

8:47 a.m., 11/16/11, Decatur, Alabama (Taken on my Droid phone)


8:50 a.m., 11/16/11, Decatur, Alabama

There were several reports of severe weather across Alabama today. Preliminary reports of possible tornadoes are coming in from Central and South Alabama. In North Alabama, reports so far have been confined to straight-line wind damage resulting from a severe thunderstorm in Madison County. The picture above was taken of the storm in Decatur that later caused the damage in Huntsville and Madison County.

The National Weather Service in Huntsville did a good job warning for the storm. At 8:42 a.m. a Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for portions of Morgan, Limestone and Madison counties. At 9:15 another Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for central portions of Madison County until 9:45.

Reports so far include the following:

8:27 am, 2 NE of Chalybeate: roof blown off porch, trees down, & awning blown off mobile home.
9:07 am, 4 miles north of Madison: trees and power lines down
9:15 am, Providence area: two reports of 55-65 mph wind gust reported
9:15 am, 911 Call Center in Huntsville: reported 74 mph wind gust
9:25 am, tree reported down on home and power lines down in N Huntsville.

Video as the storm approached Decatur and the first warning was being issued:




Radarscope capture by Chris Palmgren

Video of velocity loop on radar from Chris Palmgren:



Straight line winds knocked a tree on Pulaski Pike and power outages were reported on Shady Lane Drive. In Rutledge Heights, a tree was blown onto a car, and Johnson High School's marquee was blown off the frame.

Phoros from WHNT 19


...

5:10 p.m. 4/27/11, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Memories of April 27, 2011 – My Storm Chase Account

This is a personal account of my experiences as a storm chaser on April 26 and 27, 2011 in Mississippi and Alabama. This is just my story, as best as I can tell it. Over time, as information becomes available and my memories are triggered, I will periodically update this post with additional narrative, links, photos, or video.

I partially regret that I have waited eight months to compose a synopsis of my activities during the historic April 27, 2011 Super Outbreak of Tornadoes. The main reason we chase is to provide a public service by assisting in the warning process. My partner, John Brown and I have been Skywatchers for ABC 33/40 in Birmingham for many years. James Spann, Jason Simpson, Brian Peters, and Ashley Brand have assembled a great system of communicating with and training storm spotters for Central Alabama. It has been an honor to serve with this group for several years. John, Rick Lipscomb and I have spoken about our chase among ourselves and with friends, and we have all appeared on various local and national media outlets. Twenty four hours after the Tuscaloosa tornado, I spoke live by phone with KTEN TV in Texas. My most extensive interview was live on WHNT Channel 19a few mornings later with Meteorologist Ben Smith. This is a shorter version of the interview as seen on the evening news. John was interviewed by ABC News Nightline and other media outlets. We told our story on the Weatherbrains podcast. In these interviews we told the story, but eight months later, I feel ready to relive the day in detail and put my memories in writing. I know John and Rick agree that it was a day that we will never forget and it will haunt us the rest of our lives. I have also spoken about the day on a few occasions with close friends, especially some of my closer friends in the weather community. Frankly, like others who witnessed the tragedy unfold, I have found it easier to spend the last eight months avoiding the subject. I usually post about my chase accounts immediately on this blog, but to this day I have said very little about my experiences on April 27. Witnessing the Tuscaloosa tornado was a shocking experience. I remember the next day my friend and fellow chaser, Jennifer New, asked how I was doing emotionally. I thought I was doing pretty well, but the depth and the shock of the tragedy really started hitting home in the coming days. She has encouraged me to tell the story. I think it is a story worth telling, and if I wait too long I will begin to forget details.

The story of my April 27, 2011 storm chase actually began eight days earlier. I pay close attention to forecast models, especially during the primary severe weather season. I also pay close attention to forecasters who look at the models closely who are much more knowledgeable than I. As early as Tuesday April 19, ABC 33/40 Chief Meteorologist James Spann mentioned in his morning “Weather Xtreme” video (this is his map discussion that he usually produces twice a day) that severe weather was a possibility on the 27th. By the next morning, the 20th, James said it could be a “significant severe weather outbreak”. On Friday April 22, James was mentioning the possibility of tornadoes, as was the National Weather Service Birmingham in their Hazardous Weather Outlook. Models were quite consistent in portraying a setup favorable for tornadoes as many as five days in advance. I asked to be off work on Friday the 22nd. As April 27 approached, confidence continued to increase that there would be multiple waves of severe weather, including the possibility of long-tracked supercells. By Monday the NWS Birmingham was referring to the storm system as “dangerous” and predicted the possibility of “strong, long-track tornadoes”. I later wrote an extensive blog post showing details of how local media and NWS offices forecasted this event.

With all of these ominous forecasts and the staggering severe weather indices that models were showing, Wednesday the 27th was obviously a day that I wanted to be out chasing. I was getting nervous, though, because I still had not been approved for leave at work. I finally received approval at 3:30 Tuesday April 26. I immediately texted my partner John Brown and we started formulating plans. He and I exchanged several texts and calls that evening. I also was contacted by my friend Rick Lipscomb, an Alabama native, who was going to drive up from South Georgia and tandem chase with John and I. The idea of the system coming in the form of two or three waves was still being shown by the models late Tuesday afternoon. By 4 p.m. portions of North Mississippi were placed in a "High Risk" area by the Storm Prediction Center. After leaving work, I immediately filled my vehicle with gasoline, drove home, studied every model and forecast I could look at, and called John and Rick.

The three of us decided to begin the chase that night. We decided to meet in Cullman around 11 p.m. at the Days Inn parking lot on the US 278 exit on Interstate 65. I drove from Huntsville and got there at 11:10 and caught about an hour of sleep in my vehicle while I waited for John to arive from Birmingham and Rick to arrive from Georgia. After Rick and John arrived just after Midnight we discussed our plan further. We didn’t necessarily expect to see a whole lot at night but we wanted to be positioned in the best possible location for the main events on the 27th. We decided to head west on US Highway 278. Around 1:15 a.m. the Storm Prediction Center issued a "High Risk" for North Alabama and surrounding areas. We saw our first storm in Hamilton, Alabama around 3:30 a.m. It was a strong thunderstorm with intense lightning and gusty winds. Jennifer Watson of WVTA Tupelo reported a severe thunderstorm warning for Lamar and Marion counties in Alabama until 4:30 a.m. with the possibility of winds of 70 mph. As we headed toward Tupelo on US 78, we encountered another storm between Hamilton and the Alabama State line. The lightning was almost constant between 3:45 and 4 a.m. These were the first of countless storms we would witness over the next 36 hours.

When we got to Tupelo we pulled into a Waffle House parking lot. I studied ongoing weather data as well as forecasts, and tried (mostly unsucessfully) to take a brief nap. Storms continued to fire that morning. Not long after breakfast, Pontotoc County, northwest of Tupelo, was placed under a tornado warning. At 9:15 a.m. there was a brief tornado at Esperanza, Mississippi, with minor damage. The clouds were impressive and very picturesque.


9:29 a.m., northwest of Tupelo, Mississippi

We saw what might have been a wall cloud, but nothing definite. As with all of the storms we had seen, the winds were very gusty and the lightning was intense. I recorded some video of the skies when we ate at Waffle House, along with the storm west of Tupelo on US 78 from 9:12 and 9:30. The video includes my discussion with Greg Nordstrom, Instructor of Meteorology at Mississippi State who is also a phenomenal storm chaser. He expressed grave concern about the nature of the environment, the type of supercells that we might see during the afternoon, and the danger it would pose to the public and also to any inexperienced chasers who might be out driving.

While we were in North Mississippi during the morning we were hearing about severe storms with numerous damage reports in Alabama counties such as Marion, Pickens, Fayette, Tuscaloosa, Walker, Jefferson, and Shelby. We later learned that the damage was more extensive than initially reported and that some of the damage was produced by tornadoes. After the storm we witnessed northwest of Tupelo, the temperature dropped into the 50’s in northeast Mississippi. We made the decision to drive southeast into West Alabama where the air was more unstable.

As we drove south through Marion, Fayette and northern Tuscaloosa counties that morning we began to realize that the morning round of storms produced a great deal of damage to the communications infrastructure. This would prove to be a significant problem later in the day as it hindered people from receiving warnings. Power, cell phone, and internet service was out due to the extensive damage produced by the morning severe weather events. John, Rick, and I were handicapped for several hours without access to much in the way of weather data. We pulled up to a gas station and couldn't purchase gasoline because they were out of power and the credit card machines were down. Our instincts told us that supercell storms that afternoon would move through the I 20-59 corridor, but now we had added reason to chase in that area. We did not want to be stuck in Fayette, Marion, or Walker counties without data or cell phone service. For quite some time, John and I were chasing "old school", relying on nothing but NOAA Weather Radio, scanner, and occasional reports on commercial radio. Driving south through northern Tuscaloosa County we saw numerous trees down from the morning storms on Highway 171. I received a call from my friend Craig Woodham. He and his wife were considering driving home to Tuscaloosa from Mobile that afternoon. I advised against it. Craig told me that a family we know, Reginald and Danielle Eppes, who live in Coaling in eastern Tuscaloosa County, had apparently been in a tornado that morning at their home. You can listen to their miraculous story on National Public Radio, here. Here is another story on them in the UK's Daily Mail. Craig didn't know all of the details at the time, but that was a sad precursor of things to come for the Tuscaloosa area.

Jim Stefkovich, Meteorologist-in-Charge of the NWS Birmingham gave a chilling and accurate prediction of what to expect after the morning storms passed, live on 100 WAPI's Matt Murphy Show late in the morning of April 27.

John, Rick, and I stopped at the Burger King in Northport, across the Black Warrior River from Tuscaloosa just after Noon. The temperature was 20-25 degrees warmer than what we experienced near Tupelo. It was now up to the lower 80’s here! The air was very humid and turbulent. As we ate at Burger King, John Brown uttered these words, “Someone is going to die today. They just don’t know it yet.” Those words hit hard but rang true to Rick and I. One thing I like about John and Rick is they take the public service aspect of chasing very seriously. It is our goal that we can play a part in the warning process so that loss of life can be prevented. John’s words were sobering, and sadly, all too true.

We stayed in Northport for nearly two hours, watching the satellite, radar, and mesoscale analysis page on the SPC site very closely. The severe weather parameters were off the chart! We felt like we were in the prime location, but all of North and Central Alabama was in danger. Finally, just before 2:00 p.m., we decided to head west towards Pickens County, near the Alabama/Mississippi border, west of Tuscaloosa. Storms were exploding in Mississippi.

By 3:30 we were on a tornado-warned storm in Pickens County. This was the scariest part of the chase. John, Rick, and I debated as to what we needed to do to be safe. We were not really in the safest place relative to the storm. We were on the north side of Pickensville as the tornado formed to our east. After it formed and we drove east to follow it, we ran into tree and power lines in the road. This storm eventually produced EF4 damage in Cordova in Walker County. This is my video of the formation of this tornado, along with the location it touched down.

When we came up on the initial damage (trees down on the road), our chase came to a major crossroads. Should we try to follow this storm or try to intercept a storm entering Greene County that was on a course for Tuscaloosa? John suggested hightailing it to Tuscaloosa. I was not confident that we could make it to Tuscaloosa ahead of the storm. But seeing that we had little alternative and considering that we always had the option of pulling back to be safe, I agreed with John. It was about 3:35 p.m. when we made the decision to go to Tuscaloosa. It was around this time that we were seeing ABC 33/40 cover a tornado live on towercam in Cullman. I tried calling my family there to make sure they were safe.

John was driving his truck. Rick was following us in his truck. We made our way to US Highway 82. This thoroughfare brings you into Tuscaloosa County from the west. We passed through the communities of Buhl and Coker, west of Northport. I was still unsure if we were far enough ahead of the storm to have time to get south in front of it. To make matters worse, Rick was behind us, and we didn't know how far. I told John we needed to hustle south over the Black Warrior River and get down I-359 as soon as we could. As we crossed the river, I looked west out of the passenger window. I saw an amazing display of cloud to ground lightning due west of Tuscaloosa. Bolts of lightning were striking in what appeared to be the same location repeatedly. Comparing what I was seeing to our Gibson Ridge Radar software, the lightning was striking out of the rain free base immediately ahead of what was later confirmed to be the tornado. It was a hectic time. We were having to navigate and keep track of the storm on radar and in the sky. John's GPS link to the radar software was a great tool in helping us get in a safe place relative to the storm. But it was not the only thing. Years of spotter training and a knowledge of the geography of the area served us well. We could not see the tornado at this point. We knew by now we were safely ahead of the storm but we were concerned about Rick. If he followed the same route, we wondered if he would run into the tornado. Frustratingly, I could not reach him by phone.

At this point, emotions and adrenaline were off the charts. I had a sense that this was going to be a major tornado by the time it approached Tuscaloosa. We then heard a report on ABC 33/40 that Meteorologist John Oldshue had streamed live video of a tornado leaving Greene County and entering Tuscaloosa County. Around this same time, Dr. Tim Coleman and Brian Peters were witnessing and reporting a large tornado on Interstate 22 in Walker County. I suggested to John that we go east on I 59-20 and pull off the interstate at the McFarland Boulevard Exit (U.S. Highway 82). We were on the ramp so in addition to having a great view of the sky we also had a very important escape route to the south or the east if we needed it.

After we pulled off, we grabbed our cameras and video cameras. While filming, I continued to try to reach Rick. I finally reached him by phone. He was seeing the tornado and seemed to be safe before I lost the connection again. Here is his video. As I said in my video, we really were in the perfect spot. We saw the tornado gradually appear on the horizon. As it did, within seconds, it appeared massive as it approached Tuscaloosa. John managed to report this on the ABC 33/40 Skywatcher chat. This tornadic storm in Tuscaloosa was streamed live on Ustream from 4:40 until 5:20. ABC 33/40's James Spann and Jason Simson covered the storm live as did The Weather Channel's Greg Forbes.

Words cannot express what went through my mind as I witnessed this beast approach a town I love and lived in for eight years. As it approached I imagined someone was about to be killed while he walked to his car after paying for his gas. I imagined a little old lady who might lose her life as she walked out of the grocery store. My mind was racing with thoughts of people being unaware of the danger headed their way. I felt helpless! It was too late to even send another report to help Tuscaloosa residents. All I could do was pray!

My video:



John's video:



If you watch my video, you will hear me say repeatedly, "Jesus help these people," or "Jesus help these people be safe." I have been amazed at the amount negative response to this on YouTube. There were so many hateful, derogatory, obscene, mean, and attacking comments about the fact that I prayed. I had many people ask that I turn the comments off on the video because some were so vile. I thought about it but I think it reflects the reality of this world and we should let people voice their opinions. Also, about the video, I took it down from YouTube for several days. It seems it was being stolen by certain media outlets and I was advised to bring it down until it could be protected. Thanks to Kendra Reed with KDR Media for help with this. It was a shame because John helped me get it online at his house within two hours of the tornado and it garnered a lot of interest. Not that it matters in the big scheme of things, but it would have had hundreds of thousands of more views.

John and I followed the tornado up 20/59 from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham. Some have asked why we didn't try to drive into Tuscaloosa to help assist victims. It isn't that we were unwilling to do something to help, but there was no way we could have been in a position to get to where help was needed. Back in 1995 I helped rescuse a tornado victim, but it was a rare situation where I just happened to have easy access. Once the authorities arrived I was no longer needed. We stopped near Bessemer where John shot some video and I took some still photographs. John and I noticed that the storm became more rain-wrapped as it approached Jefferson County. We saw the storm as it was tearing up places like Concord to our north.



The next day John and I witnessed the destruction at Concord. John was being interviewed by ABC News Nightline. One of my best friends, Tom Windsor, lived in Concord for years. They were also affected by the April 8, 1998 F5 tornado. The destruction we witnessed the next day was unbelievable.


4/28/11 7:28 p.m. Concord, Alabama

After seeing the damage in Concord on April 28, I thought there was a lot of high end EF4 damage. There were a lot of bare slab foundations. It was very sad to witness. Four or five people (at least) died in that little neighborhood. If that was the only community affected in the state it would have been on the national news. Sadly, it was only a small fraction of the horror our state experienced. I hope I never see anything like this again. There was warning. But there was nothing these people could do to be safe from an EF4 tornado unless they had access to an underground shelter. Our minds will never grasp the magnitude of this tragedy. When I witnessed first hand the kindnesses given to those affected in the wake of the storms, I am prouder than ever to be an Alabamian.

Back to the chase. As we approached Birmingham, John asked me if I minded ending the chase. He was concerned about his family and wanted to check on them. Of course I told him that was a "no-brainer". As we approached his home in the Trussville area, we were very close to the area of circulation. We didn't know it at the time, but the tornado temporarily "lifted" just east of Fultondale. John and I tried to take shelter in a gas station but the employees had locked the door and would not let us in. We drove to John's house. His family was ok. I was finally able to get in touch and find out that my sons in Cullman were ok. By this point in the day cell phone service was becoming spotty in many areas. We uploaded my video and sent reports to ABC 33/40.

My vehicle was still in Cullman. John had to drive me back to Cullman. It was after dark and we began to wonder if the Cullman tornado hit the area where my vehicle was parked. The magnitude of the storm event was such that we had no idea, even by this hour, how many parts of the state were devastated. Everything was completely dark north of Birmingham. The North Alabama tornadoes had destroyed the power infrastructure. After we found my vehicle, surrounded by utility trucks, I drove home to Huntsville. With no power and no moonlight it was surreal driving home. The normal glow in the sky over Decatur, Madison, and Huntsville was missing. As I drove through Huntsville I only saw lights at the hospital and police station, which were running on generator power. As I pulled in my driveway, my garage door opener didn't work (of course), and as I opened the car door I heard the roar of generators in the neighborhood. I used the light of my Droid phone to get me to the back door of the house. Then I looked for candles and flashlights and a radio. I could tell from the radio that things were worse up in North Alabama than I realized.

Thus ended a very long and emotional day......

---

Here are some of other links of interest. I will be adding to this list over time.

The May 3, 2011 Weatherbrains, Episode 275, was a two hour special. Regulars James Spann, Bill Murray, Dr. Tim Coleman, and Kevin Selle were joined by John Oldshue, John Brown, and Mike Wilhelm to simply share their thoughts on the horrible April 27, 2011 tornado outbreak that has killed over 300 people across the Deep South and injured thousands more.

Dr. Jon Nese of Penn State University describes the forecasting of the tornado outbreak as well as the warning process in his weekly program, Wxyz (Weather Whys) which airs on Pennsylvania Public TV. In September 2011 I had the pleasure of visiting Dr. Nese as he gave me, Bill Murray, Ben Smith and other guests from Alabama a tour of the PSU Meteorology Department. Penn State people did a lot to reach out and help Alabamians.

WHNT 19's Michelle Stark tells the story of this historic tragedy through YouTube videos.

WSFA Montgomery's Rich Thomas showed radar history of the Tuscaloosa-Jefferson tornado.

John Brown raised money for victims selling We Are Alabama tee shirts.

ESPN visited Tuscaloosa and did a special story on the tornado recovery in May. My video was used in that story.

James Spann wrote a famous blog post about the warning process that was even covered by the media in the UK.

NOAA movie showing the rapid scan infrared imagery from the GOES-East weather satellite from April 26-28, 2011.

Miraculous story of survival and recovery of one Alabama student.

NWS Meteorologists "detective work" in performing numerous, massive storm surveys.

Crazy video someone took inside the Fultondale tornado.

Birmingham NWS Meteorologist in Charge Jim Stefkovich describes the event.

...

Douglas L. Davis of the National Weather Service Huntsville
Photo credit: Huntsville Magazine, Winter 1975


Tom Ward of the National Weather Service Huntsville
Photo credit: Huntsville Magazine, Winter 1975

For many years the National Weather Service in Huntsville requested a NOAA Weather Radio station from the federal government, to no avail. Huntsville was told it was a low priority. NOAA Weather Radio stations were mostly confined to coastal areas. Local governments, businesses and individuals had to raise the $30,000 needed for the station. According to the Huntsville Times, donors included: Huntsville-Madison County Airport Board of Control ($3,000), Limestone County ($2,460), Madison County ($4,392), Morgan County ($3,540), the city of Athens ($1,299), the city of Decatur ($3,429), and the city of Huntsville ($12,420). In addition, concerned citizens donated several hundreds of dollars. Onan Corporation manufactured a 5 kW emergency power generator, worth about $3,000, for the station's transmitter.

The transmitter was installed at the WYUR television studio. Signals from the broadcast console at the Huntsville Jetport were sent to the transmitter at WYUR, on Monte Sano. Huntsville NOAA Weather Radio Station KIH-20 became a reality and finally went on the air on Monday, January 12, 1976. KIH-20 was the second NOAA Weather Radio station to go on the air in Alabama. Mobile's station was the first.

Sources:

National Weather Service Huntsville
Huntsville Magazine, Winter 1975

...

UAH Armor Radar Rainfall Estimate

The photos above were taken by my neighbor, LeeAnn Reid, this morning around 11:30. This is the creek that runs off Monte Sano between our homes in Northeast Huntsville. It was probably running higher before she took the pictures. That is the highest I have seen the creek in many years. UAH Armor Radar estimates that approximately four inches of rain fell in the area.

There were numerous reports of flooding in Huntsville, especially in the northeast part of town where I live. Pavement was washed away at Rodgers and Haynes Drive. There was significant flooding at Giles Ave., Oakwood Ave., and Maysville Road.

A woman had to be rescued from her car on Giles Ave., according to the Huntsville Times. Check out that link for news, photos, and video.

Here is a link to 30 photos from the Huntsville Times.

Today was yet another reminder to adhere to the NWS slogan on flooding: "Turn around, don't drown".

...

I took these photos of cloud to ground lightning as a line of storms approached Huntsville between 5 and 6 a.m. this morning. North Alabama was actually under Tornado Watch #2, but the line of storms produced no severe weather whatsoever in the Tennessee Valley. There were a few reports of pea-sized hail.


Radar capture at 5:40 a.m. by WHNT 19 Chief Meteorologist Jason Simpson


Rob Koch and Jason Parkin shared my photo on WeatherNation TV


Here is a screen capture from my video camera

...

Wow, what a crazy Sunday, Sunday night, and Monday morning.

I woke up to go to the early service at church because I wanted to come home, take care of some things, and get a good nap before chasing Sunday night. When I got out of church I had a message from Jason Simpson, the new Chief Meteorologist at Channel 19 in Huntsville. We spoke about plans for coverage of the event on television and discussed the forecast. Jason and I communicated throughout the day and I was also in contact with chase partner John Brown. Our target was going to be NW Alabama, based on the severe weather parameters shown by the models.

I got a two hour nap in the afternoon. Jason and I spoke again about how we would communicate while he was on the air and shared thoughts about what we though might happen. I left at 6:30 and drove toward Moulton. I did a phone interview from Moulton live on WHNT's 10 p.m. newscast.



John went to Tupelo. I then went further west toward Russellville. We both saw some storms with rotation in the upper levels, but the air was just not quite unstable enough to produce discreet cells. The cells were mostly embedded in a larger rain mass. The storms produced frequent lightning but with the heavy rain and gusty winds, it was almost impossible to photograph the lightning.



There was no severe weather in North Alabama. This was the first time Jason Simpson provided severe weather coverage as Chief Meteorologist for WHNT 19 in Huntsville.



Considering it a moderate risk bust (STP values were 3-5 in NW AL and NE MS and there were no damage reports), John and I decided to head back toward our respective homes. I drove back toward Huntsville and he drove back toward the Birmingham area. He made a brief stop for a tornado-warned storm in Hamilton. I stopped in downtown Huntsville to see whether I could get any lightning pictures from the vantage point of a parking garage. The rain was just too heavy and it obscured the sky. After streaming video back to WHNT between 3 and 3:30 a.m., I headed to the house. John called and said he was in the Birmingham area. I told him to call me soon if he had a chance.

I had planned on looking at my photos quickly and getting to bed. While I was doing that, I was listening to James Spann's, Brian Peters', and Ashley Brand's coverage online for ABC 33/40 in Birmingham. Suddenly, supercells showing intense rotation began moving from Tuscaloosa into Jefferson County. Damage reports started coming in. The rotation signature ramped up so much that it was obvious there had to be a tornado with the cell. James Spann started showing John Brown's live stream on the air. John was in the Fultondale area.



Power flashes were visible on his stream and then the power went out, as all of the city lights disappeared from view.

More and more damage reports were coming in. The reports started getting more serious. Reports now were of people being trapped in places such as Center Point and Trussville. These are suburbs northeast of Birmingham with fairly dense population. I was really tired but I was riveted to the coverage and I was relaying reports via Twitter and Facebook. My heart started to really break when I realized that there were likely numerous injuries and probably multiple fatalities.

I received a text from another ABC 33/40 Skywatcher saying that John Brown's home had been damaged. He said he heard that on the Skywatcher IM chat. Then James Spann reported it on the air. I messaged John's wife. Thankfully she was ok and she said she saw no damage! I sent an IM and a tweet to the Skywatchers and James. Soon, James reported on the air that John's family and home were ok. James was very complimentary of John throughout the coverage, at one point calling him "the best storm chaser!"

Another storm with strong rotation was now showing up in Perry County, heading for Chilton County in Central Alabama. This rotation may have been the strongest of the day. Damage reports started coming in from Maplesville and Birmingham Nexrad was showing a possible "debris ball" signature. The storm was headed for the north side of Clanton.

There were a few more storms that showed signs of rotation, but by 6 a.m. it appeared that the worst was probably over. I was exhausted. I think it was around 6:30 a.m. when I finally decided to go to bed. By this time there were confirmed reports of numerous injuries and some fatalities. I was on the verge of crying several times as these reports were coming in. Praying, I finally fell asleep for a nap before I had to go into work later in the morning.

A of lunch time Monday there are at least two confirmed fatalities and over 100 injuries in Central Alabama.

Alabama has been through way too many of these tragedies. Please pray for Alabama.

Some of my Tweets during the storms:

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
Multiple fatalities in Oak Grove per @spann#alwx#fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
RT @rickjourney: Birmingport FD confirms a fatality on Todd Dr off Toad Vine Rd in JeffCo #fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
RT @stuffspannsays: "Don't be a bonehead! Don't go out there. Just don't. Don't be out there trying to get a video for youtube. Stop!!" #fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
RT @ashleyb3340: Unless you are an emergency work...PLEASE do not be an onlooker. It's not safe for you or anyone else! #fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
RT @ashleyb3340: 5:37:41 AM) John Talbot - Hueytown(Laptop): concord is closing off taylors ferry rd! #fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
RT @YenuWodajo: Photo was sent to us by reporter @MarissaMtchll of the Jet Pep station near Pinson Valley Rd #alwxhttp://t.co/QJBZgxap#fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
RT @TashaSimone: RT @TWCBreaking: New #tornado warning just E of Columbiana, AL. Circulation tightening: http://t.co/ZlHwSlyC#fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
RT @YenuWodajo: @spann says large, violent tornado approaching downtown Clanton #fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
ABC 33/40 Skycam in Chilton County lost power. #alwx#fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
RT @spann: For those waking up, please watch our stream http://t.co/xQyJt1lc#alwx#fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
Several people trapped in homes in Maplesville. Major structural damage! #alwx#fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
Clanton residents should be in a safe place NOW!!! #alwx#fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
Per @spann Sweeny Hollow Rd, part of house gone... Toadvine rd - Several homes taken out.

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
Per NWS BMX... Maplesville PD were hunkered down & heard the roar as the possible tornado went over location. #alwx

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
RT @TashaSimone: Triage site old winn dixie parking lot old springville rd. #fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
RT @simpsonwhnt: Do not drive on I-65 in Chilton County; violent tornado moving through western Chilton County #alwx#fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
RT @ashleyb3340: Reporter @marissamtchll Wildwood at Pinson Valley. Damage to a gas station & large bldg destroyed. Debris in streets #fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
@spann... Leslie, John Brown's wife, said no damage to their home as far as she can see. They are ok.

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
RT @ashleyb3340: RT @joshuavest: Sweeney hollow rd is out of power lines down after Taylor memorial trees down blocking Sweeney hollow #fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
RT @ashleyb3340: From a skywatcher: centerpoint fire reports kids are missing on san marco drive #fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
RT @ashleyb3340: Amateur reports "complete destruction no houses left standing" Paradise Valley Clay Jefferson Cty #fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
Storm w/ possible "debris ball" signature approaching Chilton -Clanton, Jemison, Lawley, Maplesville, & Pletcher community take cover #alwx

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
RT @JohnTalbot: birmingham fd is sending all ther heavy rescue trucks to trussville! #fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
RT @JohnTalbot: MAJOR DAMAGE IN TRUSSVILLE!! numerous houses destroyed & folks trapped!! they are calling for ALL HELP AVAILABLE!!! #fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
RT @brettadair: Trees down on I-59 on each side of the interstate 59 between Argo and Springville. #alwx#fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
RT @memborly: I think Alabamians take weather seriously. TT: Center Point, James @spann, Trussville & Jeff. County! http://t.co/mzZ8OZ8D#fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
Tornado Warning for Blount, Calhoun, Etowah, Jefferson, St. Clair SPOTTERS, NWS TRACKING LARGE & EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TORNADO NEAR CLAY #fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
3rd St NW, Center Point, person trapped in a house. Extensive damage with trees and power lines down. Per @spann#alwx#fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
RT @simpsonwhnt: RT @mustardseed74: roof collapsed on winewood road near center point, people trapped #alwx - simpsonwhnt (@simpsonwhnt) #fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
RT @ashleyb3340: roof collapsed on winewood road near center point, people trapped #fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
Power flashes being reported near Center Point Parkway by @spann#alwx#fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
RT @tman2483: James Spann @spann is the #5 top trending topic in the united states right now #fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
Storm Chaser John Brown's live stream showed a power flash and then an apparent power outage in the Forestdale area. #alwx#fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
Structural damage in Birmingport, Alabama per @spann#alwx#fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
Jefferson Co: Multiple trees down on Paul Almond Road. Taylor's Ferry Road also has damage. @spann reporting Forestdale damage #alwx#fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
Lots of damage reports from Toadvine Road in Western Jefferson County, Alabama between Alliance and Oak Grove. #alwx#fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
Live from Downtown Huntsville http://t.co/zGC5bbpJ#alwx#fb

bamawx Mike Wilhelm
RT @alastormspotter: At 02:03 AM NWS HUN issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Madison, Marshall & Morgan Counties until 02:30 AM. #fb

...

When I post pictures to my Twitter account, my Facebook weather page, this blog, or wherever, I rarely do any editing of the photographs. At most I occasionally crop the picture, but that's it. What you see is how my camera "saw" it. Recently, my friend Rick Lipscomb did some editing of his photos of the Tuscaloosa tornado of April 27. The end result was very impressive because it brought out details of the storm that didn't show up other wise. I asked Rick to work some of his magic on my pictures. Here are the results!

This is from the Montgomery Advertiser, 2/14/1899. The temperature dropped to -14 on this date in Anniston in 1899.


12 below zero in Uniontown, AL in Perry County and -7 in Opelika in Lee County on this date in 1899.




On this date in 1899 the temperature dropped to five below zero in Selma, Alabama (Selma).

Mobile, AL celebrated Mardi Gras in 1899 with heavy sleet and dropped to -1.

The official low at the Fountain Heights weather office in Birmingham was -10.

Other lows included:

Tuscaloosa -7

Elba -7

Greensboro -5

Florence -11

Decatur -12

Oneonta -15

Hamilton –16

Scottsboro –16

Valley Head -18

Source: Bill Murray @wxhistorian on www.alabamawx.com

...

Birmingham Nexrad 2/16/95 at 5 a.m. when a Tornado Warning was issued for Marshall County.

At 4:59 a.m. on February 16, 1995, an F3 tornado touched down three miles west of Joppa in extreme northeast Cullman County. It traveled through the town of Joppa, crossed Alabama Highway 69 and moved into Marshall County, just southwest of Arab, at 5:06 a.m. The tornado moved across the southern side of Arab at 5:08 and crossed over U.S. Highway 231. It finally dissipated near Browns Creek on the western side of Lake Guntersville after being on the ground for 14 miles. Six people were killed and 130 were injured. One death occurred in a house and the other five occurred in mobile homes. Five of the deaths were in Marshall County and one was in Cullman County.

A total of 157 homes were destroyed (77 in Cullman and 80 in Marshall) and 12 businesses (6 in Cullman and 6 in Marshall) were destroyed. More than 40 commercial poultry houses were demolished and at least two small trailer parks were destroyed by the tornado. The roof was ripped off Amberwoods Garden Apartments and the tornado also tore through the Joppa Elementary School.

The New York Times reported that the tornado struck with "virtually no warning". That was rather misleading. Around 4:25, lightning knocked out operations at the Huntsville NWS, including radar. Thus the Birmingham NWS was pressed into action for the Huntsville office's County Warning Area. At 4:55, the NWS Birmingham issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Cullman County, four minutes before the tornado touched down west of Joppa. Noticing signs of rotation, they then issued a Tornado Warning for Marshall county at 5:01 a.m. Unfortunately, the Huntsville NOAA Weather Radio transmitter was also knocked out, so the warning message was never sent out over NOAA Weather Radio. Combine that with the fact that the tornado occurred in the early morning hours, around 5 am, with many people still asleep, and it is easy to see how people missed the warning.

Today I contacted Brian Peters, who was the Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Birmingham at the time. Here are some of his memories of the event:

"I recall there were two thunderstorms moving along parallel to one another right along the boundary between the Huntsville warning area and the Birmingham warning area. As I recall the Huntsville office went down due to a lightning strike which took down their radar but they were able to notify us. The storm that produced the Arab-Joppa tornado was just about to move into Marshall County from Cullman County, so when we issued the (tornado) warning we went with just Marshall County....this was one of those unfortunate events with everything happening at almost the same time."

Significant Tornado Parameter, NAM, Valid 9 p.m. Thursday

During the past 24 hours there has been quite a bit of talk about the "Significant Tornado Parameter" (STP) index. Understandably, ever since the tragedy of April 27, 2011, residents of Alabama are as concerned about severe weather as they have ever been. Many meteorologists, weather geeks, and friends who are not usually interested in the weather have been posing and reposting a graphic on Facebook showing the NAM computer model output for the STP values for Thursday night and Friday. I think this is a good time to talk about what the Significant Tornado Parameter (STP) represents.

Before attempting to define the STP, we need to start with the broader subject of computer models. There are a variety of computer models that are used by meteorologists to aid in the making of forecasts. The computer models are based on the idea that mathematical equations can describe the changes that govern the weather. As the amount of weather data has increased and as computer technology has advanced, models have become more accurate, sophisticated, and detailed over time.

Computer models have been used to help us gain insight into numerous weather variables. These include the obvious (temperature and precipitation) and many which are less understood by the general public (instability and shear). Meteorologists have learned that there are many variables that play a role bringing about severe weather. When all (or most) of these variables come together, experience has shown that severe weather is more likely.

There are several very specific things that need to happen in the atmosphere for the most violent form of severe weather, the tornado, to be possible. Some of these include: a strong low pressure system, a boundary between air masses, wind shear, a strong jet stream, divergent winds aloft which help provide lifting necessary for updrafts, and instability. Just because these things occur does not guarantee a tornado will form. But meteorologists have a good general idea of the atmospheric conditions that make the formation of tornadoes more likely. This knowledge, along with the ability of computer models to project these conditions several days in advance, aids in our ability to plan and prepare for severe weather events.

While models project each of these ingredients individually, there have been several "composite indices" developed which group these ingredients together. One of these indices is "Significant Tornado Parameter" (STP). The STP is calculated including five ingredients: shear, storm-relative helicity, CAPE, LCL height, and CIN. These terms do not mean anything to over 99 percent of the population. For a more detailed explanation of what these parameters mean, there are several sites online that can help. A technical explanation of the STP can be found here. A very good site that I think puts these terms into language most of us lay people can understand can be found here.

The thing to remember is that models are not infallible, by any means. Models have been created to provide meteorologists with guidance in creating forecasts. Meteorologists determine over time which models perform better in certain circumstances. All models do not provide the same guidance. When using models, forecasters look for consistency over time, consistency between models, historical performance of models, resolution of the model, and how far into the future they are looking. When consistency has been high and the forecast is in the short-term, the forecaster can place a higher level of confidence in the model output. When there is inconsistency and the forecast is long-term, it is unwise to put as much faith in model output.

That brings us back to the severe weather outlook for Thursday night and Friday here in Alabama. Yesterday (Monday) afternoon, the NAM model's STP showed some very high values over North Alabama. This was the first model run where this appeared. It was also about three and one-half days before the potential event. Other models were not showing the same high STP values. So, what should we take from this? What I take from it is that we need to watch model output closely between now and Friday. We need to see if models are consistent with this. What we do not need to do is panic or assume that a major tornado outbreak is a given. A lot can happen in the atmosphere between now and Friday. As it does, the models will adjust accordingly. Even though the NAM is getting a lot of attention, as of Tuesday evening the GFS is still not showing nearly as much potential for a tornado outbreak. I always look for limiting factors as well. I see several factors that could limit this event. The surface low is projected to be way up in the Great Lakes, surface dewpoints are projected to only get as high as the upper 50's in the Tennessee Valley, storms and rain on Wednesday may limit instability, and the surface winds are projected to be out of the southwest, not the southeast, as you would expect to see for a major tornado outbreak. Does that mean we will not see severe weather? No! But unless the trends change, I'm seeing this more as a squall line or QLCS-type event with possibly a few isolated tornadoes. Regardless, this is a situation that needs to be monitored.

I highly recommend that you find a trusted source of weather information as the week goes along. Visit the NWS Huntsville and NWS Birmingham web sites. Read the forecast "discussions" where meteorologists go into a bit more detail about their forecasts. Read the Hazardous Weather Outlooks. Alabama is also blessed to have some excellent broadcast meteorologists. I listen closely to chief meteorologists James Spann (ABC 33/40 in Birmingham) and Jason Simpson (WHNT 19 in Huntsville). The blog Alabamawx.com is a great source.

This is Severe Weather Awareness Week in Alabama. Please make sure your family, school, business, and church have an action plan should a warning be issued.

...

This photo was taken at 6:54 p.m. of a cumulonimbus cloud, looking east from Chapman Mountain in Huntsville, Alabama.


Cloud to ground lightning just north of Madison County, High School at 6:02.


Cloud to ground lightning just north of Madison County, High School at 6:07.

Dr. Tim Coleman described the conditions and showed a radar image of these storms on Alabamawx.com.

...

Today was a case study in why storm chasing in real life is nothing like storm chasing "as seen on TV". The Tennessee Valley of North Alabama was under a "Moderate Risk" of severe weather and a Tornado Watch was issued which included the following text:

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

I am a huge fan of the Storm Prediction Center. They are amazingly accurate considering what they are expected to do. And this moderate risk may have verified for other parts of the risk area. But for my region here in North Alabama, storm chasers would call it a bust. Not only were there no tornadoes in the Tennessee Valley of North Alabama, there were no severe wind or hail reports. Frankly, I heard of no hail at all. I was in one of the stronger storms and the peak gust I recorded was 25 mph. There were not even any tornado or severe thunderstorm warnings.

I am not complaining. We in Alabama need a break from severe weather. And I am not criticizing the SPC. They are awesome and I continue to rely heavily on their products. I would recommend that everyone do the same.

Today was a case study on why storm chasing is not for adrenaline junkies. Even on the most eventful days, there is much more time spent in "hurry up and wait mode" than in experiencing nature at its worst. I took leave from work at 1:00 and put 130 miles on my vehicle. For what? To see a lot of light rain, a 25 mph wind gust (in the strongest storm in the Tennessee Valley), and a few cloud to ground lightning bolts that I couldn't photograph. Do I regret it? Not really. I actually like weather most folks consider boring. I enjoyed the "company" of my weather friends in the online world. Of course if I knew that literally nothing would have happened in advance, I would have stayed at work and saved my leave. But this goes with the territory. In order to provide this service to the public, you have to be available and especially during days where the experts consider the risk to be elevated. Much more often than not they are correct.

...

Photos from damage on Maysville Rd, Just off Winchester, near Buckhorn HS in Madison Co.

Tornado damage from US Hwy 231, North of Huntsville, 3/2/12

...

All week, computer models pointed to a couple of potential severe weather threats, one on Wednesday February 29 and a greater threat for Friday March 2, 2012. Wednesday’s “event” produced no severe weather in North Alabama. By Thursday, the Storm Prediction Center included North Alabama in a “Moderate Risk” for severe weather. All parameters seemed to be coming together for the potential for all forms of severe weather, including tornadoes. Thursday evening I poured over models and maps looking for as much insight as I could get for the chase. I communicated with several of my weather friends, including Jason Simpson, Chief Meteorologist at WHNT Channel 19. I spoke with chase partner John Brown about his plans and what he was seeing in the model output. I also spoke to Meteorologist Barry Britnell, Jennifer New, and Carrie Rumbo about posting on my Facebook weather page and communication while I was in the field. Earlier in the week I had spoken with Sarah Vines about chasing with me. It became apparent that there could be two waves of severe weather, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. I actually only got one or two hours of sleep overnight Thursday.

I stepped out of the house before sunrise and it was obvious that a warm front had drifted north and moved over my location in Huntsville. Temperatures were already warming before daybreak. Scattered showers were breaking out. These were mostly elevated and not very strong. By 7 a.m. I was loading and preparing my vehicle for the chase. I was expecting a call from Jason, but my phone never rang. I found out later that my Droid X was malfunctioning. More on that later. Showers and storms by this time were mostly training from southwest to northeast from Franklin and Marion counties, across Lawrence, Morgan, and Limestone, west of Huntsville. By 8 a.m. I was getting interested in a cell back in West Alabama. We were not under a watch and there were no warnings. What intrigued me about that cell was its shape on radar. It wasn’t large, but it seemed to be encountering some shear and I thought that if it developed more, it may become dangerous. I decided to drive toward Decatur to intercept it. It was probably over an hour away from Decatur when I decided to leave Huntsville.

I left home around 8 a.m., believing I had plenty of time to purchase gasoline and snacks at Kroger. Never get behind me in line at the grocery store. I waited for what seemed like 20 minutes for a lady with multiple WIC vouchers and not enough money to purchase the amount of food she loaded in her buggy. I am usually pretty patient, but my patience was really being tested then! Finally I got out to the vehicle and fired up my live video stream. This time I used a headset microphone for the audio. I got some feedback from Barry that it was much better than Wednesday. I texted Jason. He said he had tried calling me but that it had gone straight to voice mail. I had several phone issues through the day. It froze, wouldn’t accept calls, wouldn’t allow me to send outgoing texts, and randomly opened apps. It also got to a point where it would not charge, even though it “said” it was charging. This proved very frustrating, especially during the morning. I was receiving multiple incoming texts and calls. Unfortunately, it is impossible to respond to most of those when chasing, even when the phone is working.

I drove to the marina on the Tennessee River, on the north side of Decatur. The storm I had earlier thought showed potential did, in fact, turn severe to my northwest. I decided to watch it from a distance at the river. It was initially warned for a severe thunderstorm. The cell split. The lead cell started rotating and the NWS Huntsville upgraded the warning to a Tornado Warning. That was a very good call. The storm produced a tornado that touched down on the south side of Athens. That tornado stayed on the ground across Limestone and Northern Madison County. It produced low-end EF3 damage. I decided to drive north on U.S. 31 and follow the rear storm. As I drove north toward that storm, it was being warned for a Severe Thunderstorm Warning. I pulled off U.S. 31 in the southern part of Athens, close to Athens Country Club to watch the storm. I didn’t know that I was within a few hundreds of yards of where the first storm dropped a tornado. As I started videoing this storm, the NWS Huntsville issued a Tornado Warning for it. I saw rotation and very strong updraft winds under what appeared to be a developing wall cloud. I was sending live video of this back to WHNT 19, which I believe they used on the air. Unfortunately I did not save any of their coverage on my DVR between 9 and 10 a.m. This storm produced the second tornado, an EF2, in Madison County. I hope that the video and reports being relayed from my location helped people “upstream” from the storm take it seriously. I was on the phone with Jennifer New, a trained storm spotter and chaser from South Georgia. She was providing radar support and helped me relay reports to the National Weather Service.


WHNT 19 Tornado Coverage 3/2/12 10-10:15 a.m.

During this part of the chase I was alone in the car. That makes it much more difficult. I decided to drive back toward Madison County. I was hoping to send WHNT some live video of the damage but I was getting conflicting reports of where the damage occurred and never found it. Complicating matters, the power was out in Athens and other points east on U.S. 72. This is a high traffic area and since street lights were out, it was very slow going. I made it back to Huntsville and stopped at the Krispy Kreme on North Memorial Parkway. Sarah was on her way north from Jefferson County to join me for the remainder of the day. While I waited on her, I made an executive decision to order three delicious and delectable glazed doughnuts and a large coffee. I had not eaten breakfast and it was getting close to midday. I had planned on having breakfast on my way to Decatur, but the lady in front of me at the grocery store used up any spare time I might have otherwise had! The doughnuts were awesome! When Sarah arrived, she had to get her equipment loaded. She is an amateur radio operator. She has a magnetic mount roof antenna. She also had her own laptop with radar.

We decided to drive to Buckhorn High School to look at the damage there. We parked there and walked around. There was significant damage to two homes near the school, numerous large trees uprooted and snapped, and a large concrete power pole was blown over. Amazingly, a mobile home was virtually untouched despite the fact it was surrounded by all of this other damage. After walking around the area, we got back in the car to prepare for the rest of the day. I posted some damage photos on my blog and sent live video out of the damage. I saw Andy Kula, Meteorologist with the NWS Huntsville arrive on the scene. He and another NWS employee were already out doing a storm survey. Those folks at the NWS Huntsville are really on top of things! We also had a chance to speak with WHNT 19 Chief Meteorologist Jason Simpson about the afternoon weather and chase plans. At this time there were only a few showers developing in West Alabama. Temperatures had risen to near 80 degrees. Our thoughts at that time were to head back toward the area where I-65 and I-565 intersect. I also spoke to John Brown who was now on I-65 driving north. He decided to stop in Cullman. After spending a little more time at Buckhorn High School, we drove west on Winchester Road back toward U.S. 231 (Memorial Parkway).

By the time we got to the Parkway, storms were rapidly intensifying in Northwest Alabama. Instead of driving southwest toward I-65 and I-565, I decided that we should drive north on US 231 toward the Alabama – Tennessee state line so that we could intercept storms that would be moving in that direction. That was a good call, because we would see three separate tornado-warned storms between 2 and 4 p.m. in southern Lincoln County Tennessee and northern Madison County. The first storm we witnessed from U.S. 231, just north of the state line in Tennessee. This storm produced some amazing features, including a rotating wall cloud, cloud to ground lightning from the wall cloud, a possible funnel cloud, and a very large and well-defined “beaver tail”. As we followed this storm east on highway 275 in southern Lincoln County, we were able to see a second tornado-warned storm follow on the heels of the first one. The wall cloud was not as impressive from our vantage point on the second one. Sarah did an excellent job relaying these reports via ham radio and to various sources back at WHNT. WHNT meteorologists Jason Simpson, Ben Smith, and Brandon Chambers provided extensive coverage of these storms. They frequently used our live stream along with radar to describe what was happening in the storms. I also did a phone interview with Jason, describing what we were seeing.

While we were in Lincoln County, we were stalked. Yes, stalked! Back when we were parked at Buckhorn High School, 30 miles and 45 minutes away, a lady came up to our vehicle and asked whether we were storm chasers. She thanked us for what we do and then proceeded to ask several questions, including if we gave paid tours! Well, little did we know, she followed us all the way up to Lincoln County. When we were parked and looking at the second wall cloud, Sarah told me to look behind us. Sure enough, it was the lady we saw back at Buckhorn. Fortunately after we pulled up a little further, we didn’t see them again.


WHNT 19 Tornado Coverage 3/2/12 2-4 p.m.

Meanwhile, storms continued to develop in some of the same areas in Northwest Alabama. A severe storm moved out of Colbert and Lauderdale counties and was moving into Limestone. This storm showed signs of rotation and large hail. We decided to drive a little south on U.S. 231 near Hazel Green to cover this storm. I think I was initially a little too far north. We had a good view, though, of a wall cloud. As it approached, it had the appearance that it was possibly producing a rain-wrapped tornado. We reported it as such; “possible” being the key word. I decided we needed to play it safe and drive south. As we were doing that we experienced quarter-sized hail. It was a good decision to drive south. If the storm had produced a tornado, our original position would have not been safe at all. That is why it is always good to keep watching the sky and always have an escape route. Of course, ideally, it would have been better if we had been further south all along. After the storm passed we drove up and down 231 and saw no damage. Other than snacks and doughnuts, we still had not had a chance to eat. We had even stopped at the McDonald’s drive thru twice in Hazel Green. Both times we gave up on them because the line was long and the service was slow.


Chase Highlights Video

Radar seemed to indicate that there was now a lull in the storms in the areas that we could access in time to see storms. We considered going further north to intercept a storm in Tennessee. Then we considered intercepting a storm near Arab. Stopping to eat, traffic, and a train in Huntsville made that impossible. We finally decided to drive to Falkville in Morgan County. There we saw several strong thunderstorms move through which produced an amazing lightning show after the sunset. Photographing lightning after dark is always a great way to end a successful day of chasing. I drove back to Huntsville to take Sarah to her car.

It was an interesting day. I saw four storms that produced confirmed tornadoes along their path. Both cells I saw during the morning in Limestone County produced tornadoes. One of the cells in Tennessee produced a brief tornado and the cell I saw in Hazel Green had produced a brief tornado back in Limestone County. We saw some amazing cloud structure, and most importantly we were able to communicate storm reports to the NWS Huntsville and provide live video coverage for WHNT 19. I sincerely hope that the efforts we made helped heighten awareness and aided in the overall warning process. Even though the area experienced four tornadoes (EF0, EF1, EF2, and EF3) it was great news that there were no fatalities in the area.


...

A record crowd of over 250 people were trained tonight by the National Weather Service Huntsville in basic storm spotting at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Here are a few photos from the event.

















...