Hail and Damaging Winds in Alabama, May 21, 2001

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in Alabama, May 21, 2001
Start: 2001-05-21T18:23
End: 2001-05-21T18:30
Location: Alabama

May 21, 2001 · NWS BMX · 4 events in 1 county or zone

2 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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: $14,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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 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 Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 21, 2:08 PM CST, 4 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 21, 2:08 PM CST, 4 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL
308 PM CDT MON MAY 21 2001

THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD CONTINUE ALONG AN OUTFLOW BOUNDARY ACROSS
CENTRAL AL THIS AFTERNOON, AND SLOWLY DRIFT SOUTHWARD THROUGH THE
EVENING.  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH WAS IN EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON
AND I WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE IT EXTENDED FOR A TIME LATER IN
THE EVENING FOR AREAS SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 20. ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD DEVELOP NEAR THE COLD FRONT THAT WILL BE MOVING
THROUGH LATER, HOWEVER, I EXPECT THE MAIN SEVERE THREAT TO BE WITH
THE BOUNDARY CENTRAL AND SOUTH AL. I WILL CONTINUE WITH CATEGORICAL
POPS EVERYWHERE TONIGHT. THERE MAY BE SOME LINGERING PRECIPITATION
CENTRAL AND SOUTH EARLY IN THE MORNING, THEN MUCH COOLER AND DRIER
AIR WILL FILTER IN.

HSV 059/071 048/075 8100
BHM 064/072 049/076 8300
MGM 068/076 051/081 9500

.BHM...NONE.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 21, 1:11 PM CST, 5 hours 12 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
211 PM CDT MON MAY 21 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

206 PM     DUNCANVILLE               AL   0.75 INCH HAIL
05/21/01   TUSCALOOSA                     DIME SIZE REPORTED JUST
                                          NORTH OF DUNCANVILLE
                                          ALONG US 82.

Local storm report, May 21, 2:58 PM CST, 3 hours 25 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
358 PM CDT MON MAY 21 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

222 PM     DUNCANVILLE               AL   60 MPH WIND GUST
05/21/01   TUSCALOOSA                     SCATTERED TREES AND POWER
                                          LINES DOWN AROUND
                                          DUNCANVILLE.

240 PM     WEST BLOCTON              AL   60 MPH WIND GUST
05/21/01   BIBB                           A FEW TREES AND POWER
                                          LINES WERE BLOWN DOWN IN
                                          AND AROUND WEST BLOCTON.

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

Hail, Lauderdale

When: May 21, 6:23 PM CST
Where: Lauderdale County, Florence
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 34.800, -87.667

Quarter size hail was reported on the eastern side of the city.

Thunderstorm Wind, Lauderdale

When: May 21, 6:23 PM CST
Where: Lauderdale County, Florence
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Property damage: $6,000
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 34.800, -87.667

Several trees were blown down in and around Florence.

Thunderstorm Wind, Lauderdale

When: May 21, 6:30 PM CST
Where: Lauderdale County, Killen
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Property damage: $8,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 34.867, -87.533

A large tree fell on a house in Killen.

Hail, Lauderdale

When: May 21, 6:30 PM CST
Where: Lauderdale County, Killen
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 34.867, -87.533

Dime size hail was reported.

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, May 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: 5244508, 5244509, 5244510, 5244511.