Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2025

Tornado Warning 55, NWS Huntsville, AL

May 20, 2025DeKalb County, Alabama

NWS Huntsville, AL issued this tornado warning at May 20, 2025, 9:46 PM CDT for DeKalb County, Alabama. It was in force for 13 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 20, 2025, 9:46 PM CDT (02:46 UTC)
Expired: May 20, 2025, 9:59 PM CDT
In force: 13 min
Issued by: NWS Huntsville, AL
Area: Storm-based polygon
Tornado: Radar indicated
Hail: 0.75 in

County DeKalb County, AL

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 20, 2:36 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	8 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 168 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 1265 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1357 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 175 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 235 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.8
Supercell composite: 6.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Huntsville, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at May 20, 9:31 PM CDT, 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 20, 9:31 PM CDT, 15 minutes before

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In the hours before

Local storm report, May 20, 8:20 PM CDT, 1 hour 26 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 20, 8:22 PM CDT, 1 hour 24 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 20, 8:30 PM CDT, 1 hour 16 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 20, 8:38 PM CDT, 1 hour 8 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 20, 9:31 PM CDT, 15 minutes before

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Special weather statement, May 20, 9:37 PM CDT, 9 minutes before

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The office that day

Everything else NWS Huntsville, AL issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 20, 7:01 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	HUN	Limestone, Madison, Morgan	29 min
May 20, 7:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Limestone, Madison	18 min
May 20, 7:21 PM CDT	Tornado Warning Tornado observed	HUN	DeKalb, Jackson	39 min
May 20, 7:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Limestone, Madison, Morgan	33 min
May 20, 7:30 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	HUN	Jackson, Madison, Marshall, Morgan	30 min
May 20, 7:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	DeKalb, Jackson	40 min
May 20, 7:54 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	HUN	DeKalb, Jackson, Madison, Marshall	51 min
May 20, 7:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Franklin, Lawrence	52 min
May 20, 8:04 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	HUN	Jackson, Madison, Morgan	26 min
May 20, 8:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Madison, Morgan	35 min
May 20, 8:25 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	HUN	DeKalb, Jackson	20 min
May 20, 8:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Cullman, Madison, Marshall, Morgan	28 min
May 20, 8:41 PM CDT	Tornado Warning Tornado observed	HUN	DeKalb, Jackson, Marshall	49 min
May 20, 8:52 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	HUN	Cullman, DeKalb, Marshall	53 min
May 20, 9:13 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	HUN	Jackson, Madison, Marshall	17 min
May 20, 9:15 PM CDT	Areal Flood Warning	HUN	Madison	3 hr
May 20, 9:28 PM CDT	Tornado Warning Tornado observed	HUN	DeKalb	31 min
May 20, 9:35 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HUN	DeKalb, Jackson, Madison, Marshall	71 min
May 20, 9:37 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	HUN	Cullman, Jackson, Marshall	38 min
May 20, 10:03 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	HUN	DeKalb, Marshall	27 min
May 21, 12:33 AM CDT	Areal Flood Warning	HUN	Madison	9 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 2025 Every tornado warning in 2025 Tornadoes in 2025

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.