1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
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 Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 20, 2:00 PM CST, 4 hours 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 300 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 2001 125+KT JET PUSHING INTO THE N ROCKIES ON WEST SIDE OF TROUGH WILL AMPLIFY UPPER PATTERN THROUGH THE SHORT TERM. SOUTHERN BRANCH ANTICYCLONIC JET INTERACTING WILL AFOREMENTIONED DIGGING JET PRODUCES BROAD DIFFLUENCE ACROSS CWA THROUGH TUE. MODELS GENERALLY AGREE ON POSITION OF UPPER TROUGH BUT ETA SOLN FAVORED ATTM WITH RESPECT TO CUT-OFF LOW DEVELOPMENT N OHIO VLY 48-60HRS. SERIES OF 500 MID LEVEL SHORT WAVE TROUGHS TRAVERSE THE VICINITY THROUGH THE PERIOD. 1ST OF NOTE ON LATEST SATELLITE IMAGES IN NE AR. MAIN THRUST OF THIS ACTIVITY WILL STAY NORTH OF AL TN VLY REGION BUT MAY GRAZE N AL TONIGHT. LATEST RADAR LOOPS INDICATE TSTMS DEVELOPING IN N MS ALONG MOISTURE DISCONTINUITY WITH SLIGHTLY MORE STABLE CONDITIONS IN N AL ATTM. 2ND SHORT WAVE DEVELOPS INTO N AR BY 06Z WITH VORT AXIS NEAR MSL BY 12Z. ETA/AVN HAVE DIFFERENCES IN THESE FEATURES AS EXPECTED. 3RD..AND LAST BUT BY FAR NOT LEAST...WOULD BE THE VORT ASSOCIATED WITH FULL LAT TROUGH MON NIGHT/TUE MORN. MONITORING THE CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT IN AR CRUCIAL FOR POPS FIRST 12 HRS. WAVY SURFACE BOUNDARY ACROSS THE TN AND OHIO VLYS WILL MOVE N AS CONTINUED SW FLOW DOMINATES. A WEAK TROUGH APPARENT ALONG MOISTURE CONTRAST IN SW AL SLOWLY DISSIPATES AS MOISTURE INCREASES AREAWIDE. STRONG COLD FRONT PUSHES INTO MID MS VLY TONIGHT WILL SEVERAL WAVES INDUCED ALONG THE FRONT. AVN FASTER THAN ETA WITH MOVEMENT ACROSS THE AREA AND WILL TAKE A COMPROMISE...FRONT TO A CHA-BHM-MEI LINE BY 09Z TUE. MODEL GUIDANCE TEMPS CLOSE FIRST PERIOD AND ACCEPTED. WENT CLOSER TO FWC MIN FOR PERIOD 3. TOOK A MIX OF FWC/MAV FOR HIS. MUCH COOLER TEMPS ANTICIPATED TUE AND INTO THE EXTENDED. NO MENTION OF SVR ATTM TONIGHT THRU MON NIGHT. THE UNCERTAINTY IS WITH TIMING AND INTITIATION OF CONVECTION. BEST POPS NW AL TONIGHT. CHC POPS IN STORE MOST AREAS MON ANzD LIKELY OR BETTER N AL MON NIGHT. PRELIM NUMBERS... HSV TE 067/080 063/070 049 75558 BHM EE 069/082 066/073 049 75258 MGM EC 069/087 069/076 051 75235= .BHM...NONE.
ALZ001>038-040>050-210100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK - UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 527 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 2001 HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA. A STRONG THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX OVER NORTHEASTERN MISSISSIPPI WILL MOVE EASTWARD INTO CENTRAL TENNESSEE AND NORTHERN ALABAMA THIS EVENING. CONDITIONS WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP OVER NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA LATE THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. GIVEN THE DEGREE OF INSTABILITY...AND INCREASING WINDS ALOFT...A FEW STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT...WITH THE MAIN THREAT BEING STRONG STRAIGHT LINE WINDS. THE GREATEST THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER TONIGHT WILL GENERALLY BE NORTH OF A LINE FROM VERNON...TO CULLMAN...TO SCOTTSBORO...AND MAINLY IN THE 6 PM TO MIDNIGHT TIME FRAME. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS AND STORM SPOTTERS IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND BE PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION LATER TONIGHT.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Several trees and power lines were blown down across the county.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, May 2001
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: 5245931.