Hail and Damaging Wind in Alabama, May 11, 2002

Name: Hail and Damaging Wind in Alabama, May 11, 2002
Start: 2002-05-11T18:47
End: 2002-05-11T19:00
Location: Alabama

May 11, 2002 · NWS BMX · 2 events in 1 county or zone

1 hail, 1 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: $20,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 11, 1:36 PM CST, 5 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 11, 1:36 PM CST, 5 hours 11 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL
236 PM CDT SAT MAY 11 2002

WEDGE MOVING ACROSS PARTS OF NORTH GEORGIA THROUGHOUT THE MORNING,
HAS SLOWED ITS WESTWARD PROGRESSION SOMEWHAT, AND LEADING EDGE NEAR
ALABAMA/GEORGIA STATE BORDER.  SOME CONVECTION HAS STARTED
DEVELOPING NEAR THIS BOUNDARY.  LAPS DATA SHOWING -4 TO -6 LIFT
INDICES, 1800 CAPE OR BETTER, AND PRECIPITABLE WATERS AROUND 1.50
INCHES.   WILL CONTINUE WITH SLIGHT CHANCE PROBABILITIES FOR THIS
EVENING, BUT MAY ADJUST PER LATEST RADAR IMAGES.

WILL CONTINUE WITH SLIGHT CHANCE FOR SUNDAY.  MAIN EVENT WILL BE
MONDAY AS NEXT COLD FRONT AND UPPER SHORTWAVE SWEEP ACROSS THE
AREA.  COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE OVER THE NORTH EARLY MONDAY
MORNING, AND THEN EXIT THE AREA MONDAY EVENING.

DRY, COOL AIR SPREADS ACROSS THE AREA MONDAY NIGHT AND INTO TUESDAY.

HSV 066 086 066 074 050 / 20 20 30 80
BHM 067 089 067 076 050 / 20 20 20 80
MGM 067 092 068 086 054 / 20 20 20 60

.BHM...NONE.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Hail, Russell

When: May 11, 6:47 PM CST
Where: Russell County, Ft Mitchell
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 32.333, -85.017

Dime size hail fell in Fort Mitchell.

Thunderstorm Wind, Russell

When: May 11, 6:47 PM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Russell County, Countywide
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 32.250, -85.200

Numerous trees were blown down across the county.

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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Alabama, May 2002

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: 5294568, 5294569.