Hail and Damaging Wind in Alabama, April 4, 2001

Name: Hail and Damaging Wind in Alabama, April 4, 2001
Start: 2001-04-04T11:40
End: 2001-04-04T11:47
Location: Alabama

April 4, 2001 · NWS MOB · 3 events in 1 county or zone

Golfball size hail was reported in Atmore and Canoe. No damage from the hail was reported.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $7,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS MOB wrote it up.

Golfball size hail was reported in Atmore and Canoe. No damage from the hail was reported. High thunderstorm winds blew several trees and power lines down just south of Atmore.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 4, 10:00 AM CST, 1 hour 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 4, 10:00 AM CST, 1 hour 40 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1100 AM CDT WED APR 4 2001

NEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH INCLUDES ALL OF CWA EXCEPT STONE
COUNTY IN MISSISSIPPI.  WATCH WILL RUN UNTIL 400 PM.  WILL UPDATE
ZONES FOR NEW WATCH.  PRIMARY THREAT WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND HEAVY
RAINFALL.  WILL UP POPS IN EAST AND NORTHEAST ZONES.  THOUGHT ABOUT
ISSUING FFA BUT WILL HOLD OFF AS 3 HOUR PRECIPITATION TOTALS ARE
JUST BELOW FFA NUMBERS.  HAVE ISSUED A COUPLE OF FLASH FLOOD
WARNINGS BUT NO MAJOR FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED.

QUICK LOOK AT NEW MODEL DATA SHOWS UPPER LEVEL HIGH STRENGTHENING
ACROSS CWA TONIGHT.  THIS SHOULD SHIFT RAIN EAST OF CWA TONIGHT.

01

.MOB...
AL...SVR TSTM WATCH MOST OF AREA.
FL...SVR TSTM WATCH NORTHWEST FL.
MS...SVR TSTM WATCH MOST OF SOUTHEAST MS.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Escambia

When: April 4, 11:40 AM CST to 11:42 AM CST
Where: Escambia County, Atmore
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 31.033, -87.500

Thunderstorm Wind, Escambia

When: April 4, 11:45 AM CST to 11:47 AM CST
Where: Escambia County, Atmore
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph)
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 31.033, -87.500

Hail, Escambia

When: April 4, 11:45 AM CST to 11:47 AM CST
Where: Escambia County, Canoe
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 31.033, -87.417

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alabama in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Alabama, April 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5240426, 5240427, 5240428.