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; 2 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 acrosscentral 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: NWS OBS 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 12, 3:45 AM CST, 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 445 AM CDT TUE APR 12 2005 .SYNOPSIS... COLD FRONT/DRY LINE MOVES THROUGH CENTRAL ALABAMA TODAY...WITH MOST OF THE SIGNIFICANT RAIN ENDING WEST TO EAST THROUGH NOON. PESKY UPPER LOW HANGS AROUND THE SCENE AND EXERTS ITS INFLUENCE ON THE REGION THROUGH EARLY THURSDAY. CLOUDS WILL BE ON THE DECREASE THROUGH THE DAY TODAY STARTING IN THE WEST...BUT THE LOW WILL USHER IN MORE CLOUDS AND RAIN CHANCES FOR WEDNESDAY. HIGH PRESSURE STARTS BUILDING INTO THE REGION LATE THURSDAY AND A DRY FORECAST IS IN STORE FROM FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY AT THIS TIME. && .SHORT TERM (TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY)... GRAVITY WAVE/WAKE LOW EVENT STARTED BETWEEN 9 AND 10 PM LAST NIGHT AND MOVED ACROSS PARTS OF CENTRAL ALABAMA. WIND GUSTS REACHED 48 MPH ON TOP OF RED MOUNTAIN AND AT THE MERCEDES PLANT IN VANCE. WIDESPREAD 30+ MPH GUST MEASURED FROM EASTERN MISSISSIPPI ACROSS MUCH OF CENTRAL ALABAMA. RECEIVED A FEW REPORTS OF LARGE TREE LIMBS/TREES DOWN AND MINOR POWER OUTAGES BEFORE PRESS TIME. WILL RE-EVALUATE THE WIND ADVISORY JUST BEFORE 4 AM AND WILL PROBABLY EXTEND IT FURTHER TO THE SOUTHEAST. AS MENTIONED IN YESTERDAYS DISCUSSION...MUCH OF THE SHORT TERM CHALLENGES REVOLVE AROUND THE INTERACTION BETWEEN UPPER LOWS. CENTRAL UNITED STATES LOW TRIES THE TWO STEP FUJIWARA WITH THE LOW NEAR THE NEW ENGLAND COAST. WILL GO WITH HPCS LEAD IN LEANING TOWARD THE GFS/UKMET SOLUTION HERE. SURFACE DRY LINE/COLD FRONT STILL BACK ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER EARLY THIS MORNING. MESO LOW MOVING INTO NORTHWEST ALABAMA KICKING OFF SCATTERED CONVECTION BACK ACROSS CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI INTO NORTHWEST ALABAMA. WILL KEEP POPS THE HIGHEST ACROSS SOUTHEASTERN AREAS BUT WILL BASE OFF RADAR TRENDS JUST BEFORE ISSUANCE. MAIN CORE OF THE UPPER LOW STAYS NORTH OF THE AREA BY THIS AFTERNOON BUT WILL LEAVE POPS IN NORTH DUE TO PROXIMITY...COLD POOL ALOFT/LOW WET BULB ZEROS/SOME UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE. LIKE THE NAMS QPF BETTER THAN GFS SO WILL LEAN THAT WAY IN THE SHORT TERM. WHATS LEFT OF THE UPPER LOW MOVES SOUTHWARD AND THROUGH THE AREA WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THIS FEATURE WILL MOST LIKELY SQUEEZE OUT A FEW SHOWERS DESPITE PRECIP WATER VALUES AROUND 0.75 INCHES. WILL INCREASE POPS A BIT SOUTH AND EXTEND SMALL POPS INTO WEDNESDAY NIGHT. CLOUDS AND RAIN WILL HOLD TEMPS DOWN WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. MAV/MET MOS NUMBERS ARE INCREDIBLY CLOSE IN THE SHORT TERM WITH TEMPS AND POPS. FWC KEEPS THINGS MUCH DRIER AND COOLER. WILL TAKE A MIX BETWEEN MET AND MAV. .LONG TERM (FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY)... MEDIUM RANGE MODELS IN FAIR AGREEMENT THAT RIDGE SURFACE/ALOFT WILL BUILD ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA THE ENTIRE PERIOD. WILL KEEP THE SAME TREND GOING WITH NO MENTION OF RAIN AT THIS TIME. GRADUAL INCREASE IN BOTH DAYTIME AND NIGHTTIME TEMPERATURES AND THESE NUMBERS DO NOT STRAY FAR FROM THE NORMAL READINGS FOR MID APRIL. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GADSDEN 73 50 65 45 / 50 10 50 20 ANNISTON 73 49 65 45 / 50 10 50 20 BIRMINGHAM 75 50 65 47 / 50 10 50 20 TUSCALOOSA 76 51 66 48 / 50 10 30 20 CALERA 76 50 66 47 / 50 10 30 20 AUBURN 73 52 69 48 / 50 10 30 20 MONTGOMERY 77 52 70 48 / 50 10 30 20 TROY 76 53 72 49 / 50 10 30 20 && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY ALZ037-038-043>050 UNTIL 6 AM CDT. && 75/LINHARES
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.
2 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: 5448003, 5448004.