A powerful low pressure system tracked from Arkansas into the Ohio Valley, lifting a warm front north during the afternoon, and pushing a cold front through during the evening hours. Two quasi-linear convective systems (QLCS) tracked east through the Tennessee Valley, resulting in two waves of thunderstorms, one which produced lightning damage to a home near Winchester, Tennessee.
Every event with a place to put it. 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.
A powerful low pressure system tracked from Arkansas into the Ohio Valley, lifting a warm front north during the afternoon, and pushing a cold front through during the evening hours. Two quasi-linear convective systems (QLCS) tracked east through the Tennessee Valley, resulting in two waves of thunderstorms, one which produced lightning damage to a home near Winchester, Tennessee.
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 Apr 2, 1:48 PM CST, 3 hours 7 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 248 PM CDT THU APR 2 2009 ...SEVERE WEATHER LIKELY THROUGH TONIGHT WITH HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND ISOLATED TORNADOES POSSIBLE... .SYNOPSIS...A POWERFUL NEGATIVELY TROUGH...ALONG WITH A SFC COLD FRONT...CURRENTLY SITUATED OVER THE ARKLATEX AREA CONTINUES TO SPUR A SEVERE QLCS FEATURE OVER THE MS RIVER VALLEY. A WARM FRONT IS LIFTING NORTHWARD OVER THE CWA AND IS CONTRIBUTING TO THE FIRST ROUND OF SEVERE WEATHER THIS AFTERNOON. THE AFOREMENTIONED COLD FRONT WILL RAPIDLY PUSH EASTWARD BRINGING THE SECOND ROUND OF SEVERE WEATHER LATER TONIGHT. && .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT)...SHEAR AND INSTABILITY PARAMETERS ALONG WITH THE APPROACHING COLD FRONT STILL INDICATE THAT THE ENVIRONMENT IS CONDUCIVE TO LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND EMBEDDED TORNADOES. THE ENVIRONMENT WILL RAPIDLY STABILIZE ONCE THE COLD FRONT PASSES OVER THE AREA. FROPA IS EXPECTED TO OCCUR AROUND 03-04Z OVER FAR NW AL...05-06Z OVER THE INTERSTATE 65 CORRIDOR...AND 07-08Z OVER SOUTHEAST AL. ONCE THE FRONT PASSES...SOME LINGERING SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE AS THE MAIN UPPER TROUGH MOVES NE OVER THE TN VALLEY. A COOLER/DRY AIR MASS BEHIND THE FRONT WILL KEEP DAYTIME HIGH TEMPS ON FRIDAY AROUND 10 DEGREES COOLER IN THE 60S WITH CLOUDS CLEARING BY LATE MORNING INTO THE AFTERNOON. TEMPS WILL THEN COOL RAPIDLY INTO THE LOWER 40S BY FRIDAY NIGHT AS A RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE REGION. BY SATURDAY...SOUTHERLY FLOW INDUCED BY THE MOVEMENT OF THE UPPER RIDGE AND SUBSEQUENT SFC HIGH WILL ALLOW TEMPS TO RISE INTO THE LOWER 70S WITH A MOSTLY SUNNY SKY. TEMPS WILL THEN DROP TO LOWER 50S. .LONG TERM (SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT)...A DEEPENING TROUGH OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WILL GRADUALLY SHIFT EASTWARD APPROACHING THE HUNTSVILLE CWA BY SUNDAY. THE TROUGH WILL PUSH A COLD FRONT OVER THE MS RIVER VALLEY BY EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. INITIAL ANALYSIS OF THIS FRONT APPEARS TO INDICATE ENOUGH INSTABILITY FOR SHOWERS AND POSSIBLY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON. AFTER THE FRONT PASSES...THE COLD AIR MASS BEHIND THIS FRONT WILL SPREAD MUCH COLDER TEMPS ACROSS THE AREA. DAYTIME HIGH TEMPS ON MONDAY WILL STRUGGLE TO REACH INTO THE 50S. THE TEMPS WILL THEN DROP PRECIPITOUSLY AS STRONG CAA FILTERS OVER THE AREA. MORNING LOWS FOR TUESDAY MAY BE AROUND 30-32 DEGREES LEADING TO THE POSSIBILITY OF A LATE FREEZE. AS THE RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE REGION...TEMPS WILL LIKELY NOT RISE MUCH ON TUESDAY DESPITE DECREASING CLOUDS. SOME WARMING WILL OCCUR BY WEDNESDAY AHEAD OF THE NEXT POTENT TROUGH EXPECTED OVER THE REGION BY DAY 7/8. OBVIOUSLY SINCE THIS IS AT THE END OF THE EXTENDED PERIOD...THE GFS AND ECMWF ARE SHOWING DIFFERING TIMING TRENDS. HAVE THUS LEFT CHANCE POPS FOR T-STORMS FOR WED NIGHT THROUGH DAY 8 TO ACCOUNT FOR TIMING ISSUES. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... HUNTSVILLE 52 64 43 73 52 / 100 10 0 0 10 SHOALS 50 63 41 73 53 / 100 10 0 0 10 CULLMAN 53 65 41 72 53 / 100 10 0 0 10 FAYETTEVILLE 50 62 42 71 51 / 100 10 0 0 10 ALBERTVILLE 53 66 43 75 51 / 100 10 0 0 10 FORT PAYNE 53 64 39 73 48 / 100 10 0 0 10 && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...NONE. TN...NONE. && 77/SL
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 1252 PM CDT THU APR 2 2009 ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-031000- LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN- MARSHALL-JACKSON-DEKALB-CULLMAN-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN- 1252 PM CDT THU APR 2 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT... A VIGOROUS STORM SYSTEM WILL IMPACT THE TENNESSEE VALLEY THROUGH THE EVENING. AS WARM...MOIST AND INCREASINGLY UNSTABLE AIR MOVES ACROSS THE AREA...SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED FROM THE MID AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING. SOME OF THE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE WITH TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND ISOLATED FLASH FLOODING ARE ALL POSSIBLE THREATS. THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL END ACROSS NORTHEAST ALABAMA BY THE LATE EVENING...AS A COLD FRONT MOVES EAST OF THE REGION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. A FEW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ON SUNDAY AS A COLD FRONT TRACKS ACROSS THE REGION. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. JLL/RSB
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
526 PM CDT THU APR 02 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0424 PM TSTM WND DMG E ATHENS 34.80N 86.97W
04/02/2009 LIMESTONE AL AMATEUR RADIO
DIME SIZED HAIL AT WEST LIMESTONE HIGH SCHOOL.
0435 PM TSTM WND DMG 8 W ATHENS 34.80N 87.11W
04/02/2009 LIMESTONE AL EMERGENCY MNGR
DIME SIZED HAIL ON HWY 99.
&&
AMINPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
534 PM CDT THU APR 02 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0452 PM TSTM WND GST E TANNER 34.73N 86.97W
04/02/2009 E65.00 MPH LIMESTONE AL EMERGENCY MNGR
ESTIMATED 60-70 MPH WIND GUST.
0453 PM TSTM WND GST CAPSHAW 34.77N 86.79W
04/02/2009 E60.00 MPH LIMESTONE AL EMERGENCY MNGR
ESTIMATED 60 MPH WIND GUST SW OF CAPSHAW.
0455 PM FLASH FLOOD DECATUR 34.61N 86.98W
04/02/2009 MORGAN AL EMERGENCY MNGR
FLASH FLOODING REPORTED IN DECATUR.
0455 PM TSTM WND DMG 5 SW DECATUR 34.55N 87.05W
04/02/2009 MORGAN AL EMERGENCY MNGR
TREES DOWN AT DANVILLE ROAD AND BETHUNE ROAD SW OF
DECATUR.
&&
AMINPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
537 PM CDT THU APR 02 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0507 PM TSTM WND DMG MADISON 34.70N 86.75W
04/02/2009 MADISON AL PUBLIC
CONFIRMED TORNADO NEAR CAPSHAW AND BALCH ROAD. PUBLIC
REPORTED THE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN BEFORE SEEKING SHELTER.
DAMAGE LOCATED ON BORDEAUX LANE. A TREE IS TWISTED OFF AT
THE TRUNK.
&&
AMINPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
544 PM CDT THU APR 02 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0532 PM TORNADO LACEYS SPRING 34.53N 86.60W
04/02/2009 MORGAN AL EMERGENCY MNGR
CONFIRMED REPORT OF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN AT THE SHERBROOK
TRAILER PARK NEAR LACEYS SPRING. POSSIBLE INJURIES...
NUMBER UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME.
&&
AMINPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
545 PM CDT THU APR 02 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0532 PM TSTM WND DMG N LACEYS SPRING 34.53N 86.60W
04/02/2009 MORGAN AL EMERGENCY MNGR
TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN AT THE INTERSECTION OF KAY
ROAD AND HOUGH ROAD NORTH OF LACEYS SPRING.
&&
AMINPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
549 PM CDT THU APR 02 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0532 PM FLASH FLOOD 5 E ATHENS 34.80N 86.88W
04/02/2009 LIMESTONE AL EMERGENCY MNGR
FLASH FLOODING REPORTED AT THE INTERSECTION OF BROWNS
FERRY ROAD AND BURGREEN ROAD IN LIMESTONE COUNTY.
&&
AMINThe Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 30 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:54 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A house was struck by lightning on Petty Lane in Winchester. A gas leak, which was caused by the lightning strike, was ongoing at that time.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Tennessee in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Tennessee, April 2009
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: 159783.