1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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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 17, 1:59 PM CST, 3 hours 51 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 259 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 2002 A SQUALL LINE WAS PRECEDING A COLD FRONT INTO THE SOUTHEAST THIS AFTERNOON, AND AT THIS TIME IT WAS MOVING INTO NORTHWEST ALABAMA. THIS LINE WILL PUSH THROUGH MOST OF THE FORECAST AREA TONIGHT, AND A FEW OF THE STORMS COULD BE SEVERE. A WATCH WAS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHWEST AL AT THIS WRITING AND I WILL ADD SEVERE WORDING TO ALL ZONES. THE MAIN THREAT SHOULD BE WIND AND HAIL, BUT I EXPECT THUNDERSTORMS TO WEAKEN AFTER SUNSET. SO FAR HOWEVER, CONVECTION HAS NOT BEEN VERY STRONG. THERE COULD BE A FEW LINGERING SHOWERS SOUTHEAST IN THE MORNING. IT SHOULD BECOME RATHER BREEZY ON SATURDAY, AND I WILL ADD A CAUTIONARY STATEMENT TO THE ZONES FOR WINDS. THE AIRMASS BEHIND THE COLD FRONT IS QUITE COOL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR AND SHOULD PROVIDE THE AREA A VERY DRY AND COOL WEEKEND. SOME PLACES COULD APPROACH RECORD LOWS OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. HSV 056/067 043/071 044 8000 BHM 058/070 044/073 044 8000 MGM 064/074 049/076 047 8200 .BHM...NONE.
ALZ001>050-172000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 117 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 2002 HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA. A WARM AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS IN PLACE ACROSS ALABAMA...AND AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT...WILL COMBINE TO PRODUCE SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH TONIGHT. DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF INSTABILITY EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS THE FRONT MOVES INTO THE STATE...THERE WILL ALSO BE A POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS PLACED ALL OF NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA UNDER A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE GREATEST THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE IN THE NORTHERN PORTION OF ALABAMA...ROUGHLY FROM THE CITIES OF VERNON...JASPER... ASHVILLE...AND GADSDEN...NORTHWARD. IN THIS AREA...A LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS FROM MID AFTERNOON UNTIL 8 OR 9 PM THIS EVENING. THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT IN THIS AREA IS DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...MAINLY ALONG THE LEADING LINE OF STORMS. SOUTH OF THE MAIN RISK AREA...INCLUDING THE CITIES OF TUSCALOOSA... BIRMINGHAM...ANNISTON...DEMOPOLIS...MONTGOMERY...AND AUBURN... ISOLATED STORMS MAY BRIEFLY GROW STRONG ENOUGH TO PRODUCE LARGE HAIL OR STRONG WINDS. STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR... LOCAL TV AND RADIO...FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS LATER TODAY.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Trees and power lines were blown down near CR 25. Several reports of funnels clouds were received with this storm as it crossed through Shelby County.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, May 2002
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: 5294643.