A strong wake low or gravity wave moved across central Alabama during the overnight hours. This feature occurred toward the very tail end of a rain area and continued after the rain had ended in most locations.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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 episode as NWS BMX wrote it up.
A strong wake low or gravity wave moved across central Alabama during the overnight hours. This feature occurred toward the very tail end of a rain area and continued after the rain had ended in most locations. This feature moved rather slow and allowed the gusty winds to last for a few hours. Gusty winds up to 30 miles an hour accompanied the feature across western Alabama and intensified just after midnight local time. As the feature moved along and south of Interstate 20 and east of Interstate 65, the highest wind gusts were estimated around 50 miles an hour. Several trees and power lines were blown down in each of the counties listed, but most of the counties across central Alabama experienced wind gusts at least 30 miles an hour. The most significant damage occurred in Talladega, Coosa, and Elmore Counties. Some of the fallen trees landed on homes and caused additional damage. The fallen trees and branches produced power outages in several locations. Here are some peak measured wind gusts in miles an hour and time observed: Birmingham 40 1148 PM CST Calera 35 1149 PM CST Gadsden 32 1235 AM CST Anniston 35 348 AM CST Alexander City 46 320 AM CST Montgomery 47 252 AM CST
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 Apr 11, 8:55 PM CST, 2 hours 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 955 PM CDT MON APR 11 2005 .UPDATE...MESOSCALE DISCUSSION... DRY AND STABLE AIR REMAINS AT THE LOW LEVELS ACROSS MUCH OF CENTRAL ALABAMA...AND THE MID AND UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT FOR STRONG OR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUES TO ERODE OVER THE BULK OF THE AREA. SINCE LAST UPDATE...SPC HAS RETRACTED THE AREA OF SLIGHT RISK NEARLY OUT OF THE FORECAST AREA...ONLY TOUCHING OUR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN COUNTIES. CURRENT RADAR AND SATELLITE TRENDS...SURFACE ANALYSIS...AND SEVERE WEATHER PARAMETER ANALYSIS ALL AGREE...THE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER OVER ALL BUT THE SOUTHWEST PORTION OF THE FORECAST AREA IS PRETTY MUCH OVER FOR NOW. LOOKING AT THE LATEST ETA OUTPUT...SOME INDICATION MID AND UPPER LEVEL JET STRUCTURE TRIES TO IMPROVE TOWARDS 12Z...WHICH IS ABOUT THE TIME THE FRONT SHOULD BE ALONG OR JUST WEST OF I-65. SOME REDEVELOPMENT OR RELATIVELY MINOR REINTENSIFICATION OF STORMS STORMS IS POSSIBLE...AND WILL BE TRACKED DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. FOR THE NEXT 3 TO 6 HOURS...EXPECT SHOWERS AND A FEW EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS TO GRADUALLY SPREAD EASTWARD (BUT NOTE THAT RAIN WASNT REACHING THE GROUND FOR QUITE A TIME IN THE DRY AIR AT TCL...NOT UNTIL 30-35 DB RETURNS WERE OVERHEAD)...WITH LIGHT TO MODERATE RAINFALL ASSOCIATED. THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL AND STRONGEST STORMS WILL BE IN SOUTHWESTERN COUNTIES. PRODUCTS AND GRIDS HAVE BEEN UPDATED TO REFLECT THE ABOVE REASONING. && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && 81/DE BLOCK
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 900 PM CDT MON APR 11 2005 ALZ011>015-017>050-121230- AUTAUGA-BARBOUR-BIBB-BLOUNT-BULLOCK-CALHOUN-CHAMBERS-CHEROKEE- CHILTON-CLAY-CLEBURNE-COOSA-DALLAS-ELMORE-ETOWAH-FAYETTE-GREENE-HALE- JEFFERSON-LAMAR-LEE-LOWNDES-MACON-MARENGO-MARION-MONTGOMERY-PERRY- PICKENS-PIKE-RANDOLPH-RUSSELL-SHELBY-ST CLAIR-SUMTER-TALLADEGA- TALLAPOOSA-TUSCALOOSA-WALKER-WINSTON- 900 PM CDT MON APR 11 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE...(TONIGHT). A STRONG STORM SYSTEM CONTINUES TO TRACK ACROSS THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. AS THE ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT PUSHES EASTWARD... SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT WILL SPREAD INTO CENTRAL ALABAMA. FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE NIGHT...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL GRADUALLY BE ON THE INCREASE FROM WEST TO EAST. FORTUNATELY FOR MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA...THE MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR HAS NOT COME AS FAR NORTH AS PREVIOUSLY EXPECTED...AND THE UPPER LEVEL FORCING NEEDED FOR STRONG THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT HAS SHIFTED SOUTH. AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS THAT ANY CHANCES FOR STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE NIGHT WILL BE LIMITED TO THE EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA...WELL AFTER MIDNIGHT AND TOWARD MORNING. THE AREA OF SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAS BEEN REDUCED TO GREENE...HALE...SUMTER...PERRY... DALLAS...LOWNDES AND MARENGO COUNTIES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...(TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY). A FEW SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS COULD LINGER DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF TUESDAY...HOWEVER...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL MAY BE NEEDED LATE TONIGHT...MAINLY IN SOUTHWESTERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, April 2005
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: 5447993, 5447994, 5447995, 5447996, 5447997.