Afternoon heating produced temperature lapse rates near the earth surface steep enough to generate an intense thermal updraft resulting in a strong dust devil. Wind speeds can only be estimated, but considering the damage were up to 50 mph.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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 HUN wrote it up.
Afternoon heating produced temperature lapse rates near the earth surface steep enough to generate an intense thermal updraft resulting in a strong dust devil. Wind speeds can only be estimated, but considering the damage were up to 50 mph.
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 Huntsville, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 16, 1:02 PM CST, 38 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 202 PM CDT FRI JUN 16 2006 .DISCUSSION... SURFACE AND UPPER RIDGE STILL KEEPING A DECENT HOLD ON AREA WEATHER TODAY...HOWEVER...DEW POINTS ARE CREEPING UP ON SE FLOW ACROSS SAND AND LOOKOUT MOUNTAINS. VIS IMAGERY SHOWING CU DEVELOPMENT IN THESE AREAS...WITH INITIAL DEVELOPMENT/ENHANCEMENT ON THE SE SHORES OF AREA LAKES. TEMPS ARE NOW PROCEEDING TO AOA 90F AT THIS HOUR WITH DEW POINTS STILL IN THE TOLERABLE UPPER 50S TO AROUND 60. WARM/MOIST FRONT EVIDENT ON VIS IMAGERY...NOW DEMARKED BY BROKEN CONVECTION FROM SE ARKANSAS TO THE GULF SHORES/PENSACOLA INLAND AREAS WHERE SEA BREEZE CONVERGENCE IS ALSO AIDING DEVELOPMENT. FOR TONIGHT...EXPECT DIURNAL CU TO DISSIPATE ALLOWING FOR DECENT EVENING COOLING...AS SLOW MOISTURE ADVECTION TAKES PLACE. OUR NW AL COUNTIES WILL SEE THE MUGGIES RETURN SOONER...AND TAKE MORE PROMINENCE ON SATURDAY. THE UPPER LOW IS NOW MOVING N THROUGH E TX...WITH GULF INFLOW PWATS OF 1.5-2.0 INCHES MOVING INLAND ALONG AND S OF THE WARM FRONT. THE UPPER RIDGE OVER THE SE WILL CONTINUE TO CHALLENGE THIS LOW AND THE STRONGER WAVE CUTTING ACROSS EASTERN CO AND NM AS CONSISTENTLY MODELED. AT THIS POINT...SHORT TERM EXTRAPOLATION AND SHORT TERM MODEL GUIDANCE SUGGESTS THAT NW AL WILL BE MOST SUSCEPTIBLE TO CONVECTION ON SATURDAY WITH THE WARM FRONT/CONVERGENCE ZONE BECOMING ALIGNED MORE N-S WITH EASTERLY FLOW OFF THE RIDGE DELAYING EARNEST SOUTHERLY RETURN FLOW. SO...WILL KEEP CHANCE POPS RELEGATED TO OUR FAR NW COUNTIES...AND LEAVE OUT A MENTION AT THIS POINT E OF I-65. THE STORMS THAT DO FIRE COULD BE GULLY WASHERS GIVEN THE HIGH PWATS...AND HEAVY RAIN THREAT EXISTS FOR OUR NEIGHBORS TO THE WEST. AS THE TROUGH HITS THE RIDGE AND BASICALLY HALTS AND SLOWLY FILLS...RIDGING WILL BUILD A BIT MORE INTO THE AREA ON SUNDAY...LIMITING THE MOISTURE TRANSPORT SOMEWHAT. HOWEVER...THE MODELS ARE MORE THAN HINTING AT SOME CONVECTION DEVELOPING ACROSS S AL AND BUILDING N THROUGH THE DAY ALONG AN INVERTED SFC TROF IN THE EASTERLIES. NOT ENTIRELY SURE THIS IS REAL...AND WILL DISCOUNT A BIT AT THE MOMENT BUT LEAVING 20 POPS IN. ON MONDAY...A BIT MORE SUPPORT FOR HIGHER POPS DOES EXIST. WITH A SHEAR AXIS ON THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE UPPER LOW PIVOTING SE INTO THE TN VALLEY AND PROBABLY SEVERAL OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES IN THE REGION. IN THE LONGER TERM...WILL MAINTAIN DAILY 20 POPS DURING THE REMAINDER OF NEXT WEEK SINCE THE UPPER LOW RETROGRADES BACK INTO TX...BUT WEAK N-NW FLOW MAY YET DROP ADDITIONAL WEAK VORTS INTO THE SE. WE MAY HAVE TO INCREASE POPS ON THURSDAY OR FRIDAY ON FUTURE SHIFTS...BUT FOR NOW...NOT ENOUGH TO GO ON JUST YET. A NOTE TO NWS CUSTOMERS AND MEDIA... NEXT WEEK IS NATIONAL LIGHTNING AWARENESS WEEK. PLEASE REFER TO OUR WEB PAGE WEATHER.GOV/HUNTSVILLE FOR MORE INFO AND OUR LATEST PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... HUNTSVILLE 68 91 67 90 / 10 10 10 20 SHOALS 69 88 68 89 / 20 30 20 20 CULLMAN 69 89 69 90 / 10 10 10 20 FAYETTEVILLE 66 89 66 89 / 10 10 10 20 FORT PAYNE 66 89 67 90 / 0 10 10 20 && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...NONE. TN...NONE. && KULA
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 1245 PM CDT FRI JUN 16 2006 ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-171000- LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN- MARSHALL-JACKSON-DE KALB-CULLMAN-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN- 1245 PM CDT FRI JUN 16 2006 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...THROUGH TONIGHT... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY... THE PROBABILITY OF WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. A MOIST GULF AIRMASS WILL RETURN TO THE TENNESSEE VALLEY THIS WEEKEND AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE. A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY...ESPECIALLY ACROSS NORTHWEST ALABAMA. THIS UNSTABLE AIRMASS IS EXPECTED TO PERSIST THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK AND THUS SO WILL THE POSSIBILITY OF THUNDERSTORMS. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. 24
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 dust devil. Local standard time, as filed.
A dust devil picked up a camper shell, spun it, and dropped it causing it to be damaged. The wind also peeled back shingles to the plywood of a residential home.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, June 2006
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: 5513779.