Hail in Alabama, February 21, 2005

Name: Hail in Alabama, February 21, 2005
Start: 2005-02-21T21:49
End: 2005-02-21T21:49
Location: Alabama

February 21, 2005 · NWS BMX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 hail, 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: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 Feb 21, 2:43 PM CST, 7 hours 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 21, 2:43 PM CST, 7 hours 6 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
243 PM CST MON FEB 21 2005

.SHORT TERM (TONIGHT - WED NIGHT)

STALLED FRONTAL BOUNDARY WANTING TO SINK SOUTHWARD, BUT NOT A WHOLE
LOT OF PUSH BEHIND IT.  DEWPOINTS OVER CENTRAL ALABAMA ARE IN THE
LOW AND MID 60S WITH NEAR RECORD HIGHS ACROSS OUR SOUTHERN
COUNTIES.  AIRMASS WILL REMAIN UNSTABLE ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH
TOMORROW.   MAIN QUESTION IS HOW FAR SOUTH WILL THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY
MAKES IT.  ETA 12Z RUN IS SLOWER THAN THE GFS IN SHOWING THE DRIER
AIR WORKING SOUTHWARD THROUGH OUR CWA BY TOMORROW AFTERNOON.  WILL
LEAN TOWARD THE SLOWER AND MORE UNSTABLE ETA FOR THE SHORT TERM.
THIS MEANS KEEPING POPS IN THE LIKELY RANGE OVERNIGHT FOR OUR
NORTHERN HALF WITH MID AND MID CHANCE POPS ACROSS THE SOUTH.  A LOT OF
THIS MAY BE DIURNALLY DRIVEN, BUT WITH HIGH MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY,
SEEMS LIKE THE REASONABLE WAY TO GO.

TUESDAY...NIETHER THE GFS OR ETA ARE SHOWING MUCH QPF TOMORROW, BUT
ETA CONTINUES TO SHOW VERY UNSTABLE AND MOIST AIRMASS THROUGH THE
AFTERNOON...WITH SEVERAL WEAK UPPER LEVEL IMPULSES MOVING ACROSS THE
SOUTHEAST.  WITH BOUNDARY SLOWLY WORKING ITS WAY ACROSS CENTRAL
ALABAMA...WILL GO WITH LIKELY POPS ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF AND LOW
TO MID CHANCE ACROSS THE NORTH.  LOOKS LIKE STRONGER STORMS WILL BE
DIURNALLY DRIVEN...SO A LOT SHOULD DEPEND ON MAX TEMPS.

WEDNESDAY IS ANOTHER TOUGH DAY AS A SERIES OF WEAK SHORT WAVES MOVE
ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST GENERATING ANOTHER ROUND OF POTENTIALLY HEAVY
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA...PRIMARILY ALONG AND NEAR
WHATS LEFT OF OLD BOUNDARY.  SO LOCATION OF THIS BOUNDARY WILL
BE KEY TO DETERMNING TEMPS AND LOCATION OF HEAVIEST RAINFALL
POTENTIAL.  WILL GO WITH CATEGORICAL POPS ACROSS THE SOUTH AND
LIKELY TO HIGH CHANCE NORTH.  18Z ETA CAME IN WITH 60 DEGREE DEWPOINT
LINE AS FAR NORTH AS CLANTON ON WED...SUGGESTING BOUNDARY MAY GET HUNG
UP BETWEEN CLANTON AND MGM.

.LONG TERM...(THURSDAY - MONDAY)

NOT GOING TO MAKE MANY CHANGES IN THE LONG TERM.  LOOKS LIKE DRIER
AIR...AT LEAST IN THE LOWER LEVELS...SHOULD WORK ITS WAY THROUGH THE
AREA LIMITING RAIN CHANCES THROUGH FRIDAY.  TEMPS SHOULD BE A BIT
MORE SEASONAL, BUT WITH UPPER LEVEL ZONAL FLOW, DONT SEE ANY
FREEZING TEMPS.

BY SATURDAY, GFS IS SHOWING A GULF LOW DEVELOPING...POSSIBLY
SPREADING SHOWERS ACROSS THE SOUTHERN THIRD OF THE CWA SO WILL
INCLUDE SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR THESE AREAS.  DEEPER SOUTHWEST FLOW
DEVELOPS BY SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY BRINGING THE NEXT WIDE SPREAD
CHANCE FOR A FEW SHOWERS.  WILL STAY CLOSE TO GUIDANCE FOR TEMPS.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
GADSDEN     58  65  43  58 /  60  30  10  30
ANNISTON    61  70  44  59 /  60  30  10  40
BIRMINGHAM  60  69  45  59 /  60  30  20  60
TUSCALOOSA  61  73  47  61 /  60  30  20  80
CALERA      61  73  47  61 /  60  40  20  70
AUBURN      60  76  50  66 /  40  60  40  70
MONTGOMERY  58  77  52  67 /  40  60  50  90
TROY        58  77  54  68 /  30  60  50  90

&&

.BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.

&&

88

Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 21, 1:22 PM CST, 8 hours 27 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
122 PM CST MON FEB 21 2005

ALZ011>015-017>050-221330-
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-
122 PM CST MON FEB 21 2005

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM.

.DAY ONE...(THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT).

STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS COULD MOVE AS FAR SOUTHWARD AS
INTERSTATE 20 BY LATE AFTERNOON OR EARLY EVENING.  THE PRIMARY
THREAT FROM ANY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THAT DO MOVE INTO THE AREA
WILL BE LARGE HAIL...ALTHOUGH SOME DAMAGING WIND GUSTS ARE ALSO
POSSIBLE.

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT SHOULD DIMINISH BY MID TO LATE EVENING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...(TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY).

A FEW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP DURING THE DAY TIME HOURS
BOTH TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY.

THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED.

...SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IN THE
NORTHERN PART OF THE BIRMINGHAM COUNTY WARNING AREA SHOULD NOW BE
ACTIVATED DUE TO THE THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Feb 21, 9:03 PM CST, 46 minutes before

ALZ-DDHHMM-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA
903 PM CST MON FEB 21 2005

THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER #28...

THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES REMAIN IN
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER #28
WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 AM...
ETOWAH...CHEROKEE...CLEBURNE...BLOUNT...ST. CLAIR...CALHOUN

Local storm report, Feb 21, 9:08 PM CST, 41 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
908 PM CST MON FEB 21 2005

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0905 PM     HAIL             WEDOWEE                 33.31N 85.49W
02/21/2005  1.00 INCH        RANDOLPH           AL   EMERGENCY MNGR

&&

AWIPSUSR

Local storm report, Feb 21, 9:11 PM CST, 38 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
911 PM CST MON FEB 21 2005

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0848 PM     HAIL             3 S HEFLIN              33.60N 85.59W
02/21/2005  1.00 INCH        CLEBURNE           AL   AMATEUR RADIO

&&

AWIPSUSR

Local storm report, Feb 21, 9:15 PM CST, 34 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
915 PM CST MON FEB 21 2005

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0912 PM     HAIL             3 E WEDOWEE             33.31N 85.43W
02/21/2005  1.75 INCH        RANDOLPH           AL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            COVERING THE GROUND

&&

AWIPSUSR

Local storm report, Feb 21, 9:37 PM CST, 12 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
937 PM CST MON FEB 21 2005

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0920 PM     HAIL             2 NW WEDOWEE            33.33N 85.51W
02/21/2005  0.50 INCH        RANDOLPH           AL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            IN THE FOSTER CROSSROADS AREA

&&

AWIPSUSR

Local storm report, Feb 21, 9:38 PM CST, 11 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
938 PM CST MON FEB 21 2005

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0930 PM     HAIL             NEWELL                  33.43N 85.43W
02/21/2005  1.00 INCH        RANDOLPH           AL   EMERGENCY MNGR

&&

AWIPSUSR

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 76 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:49 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Randolph

When: February 21, 9:49 PM CST
Where: Randolph County, 8 mi SE of Wedowee
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 33.217, -85.367

Nickel to quarter size hail was observed in the Potash community.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alabama in 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Alabama, February 2005

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: 5437267.