Afternoon thunderstorms developed in an unstable air mass fueled by daytime heating.
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 BMX wrote it up.
Afternoon thunderstorms developed in an unstable air mass fueled by daytime heating.
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 Jul 16, 11:30 AM CST, 57 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1230 PM CDT FRI JUL 16 2010 .UPDATE...AVIATION DISCUSSION. && .DISCUSSION... UPDATES TO THE AFTERNOON FORECAST ARE OUT. MADE A FEW CHANGES TO THE AFTERNOON HIGHS AS THE EXPANSIVE CLOUD COVER OVER THE EAST CONTINUED THROUGH MOST OF THE MORNING...SO TEMP RECOVERY WILL LIKELY BE SLOW. LOWERED A FEW DEGREES IN THE GENERAL AREA...BUT LEFT EVERYONE ELSE NEARLY THE SAME. OTHERWISE...RAISED POPS TO LIKELY IN A FEW LOCATIONS ACROSS THE WEST AND SOUTH BASED UPON MORNING ANALYSIS OF THE SURFACE...RADAR...AND SATELLITE TRENDS. LEFT SCATTERED IN FOR EVERYONE ELSE. && .AVIATION...18Z TAF DISCUSSION. AN EASTERLY WAVE MOVING ACROSS SOUTH ALABAMA AND AN UPPER TROF APPROACHING NW ALABAMA WILL CREATE FAVORABLE CONDITIONS FOR THUNDERSTORMS THRU 02Z. THE HIGHEST CHANCES FOR TSTMS WILL BE ALONG AND WEST OF I-65. UPPER AIR SOUNDINGS INDICATE THUNDERSTORMS WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 KNOTS. VFR CONDS EXPECTED THRU 10Z EXCEPT IN TSTMS. MODELS INDICATE THERE WILL SUFFICIENT LOW LEVEL SOUTHERLY FLOW AND HIGH MOISTURE CONTENT FOR WIDESPREAD MVFR CIGS TO DEVELOP BY 10Z...WITH LCL IFR CIGS. 58/ROSE && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1242 PM CDT FRI JUL 16 2010 ALZ011>015-017>050-170200- 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- 1242 PM CDT FRI JUL 16 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY THROUGH 8 PM ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA. THE MAIN THREATS WILL BE WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...AND HEAVY RAINFALL RESULTING IN LOCALIZED FLOODING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 18 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:26 UTC.
4 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Power lines reported down near Sulligent.
Quarter sized hail fell just south of Vernon.
Trees and Power lines were blown down across much of central Lamar County including in and around Vernon and Bedford.
Trees down near the intersection of Highways 28 and 80, on Magnolia Street and along County Road 74 near Highway 28.
A large gazebo was blown off of a residents deck and several trees were uprooted.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, July 2010
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: 253361, 253363, 254328, 253368, 253370.