Thunderstorms erupted across northwest Alabama during the mid afternoon hours in an unstable environment with weak wind shear. Additional activity developed during the early evening hours in northeast Alabama which propagated south-southwest through north central Alabama.
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.
Thunderstorms erupted across northwest Alabama during the mid afternoon hours in an unstable environment with weak wind shear. Additional activity developed during the early evening hours in northeast Alabama which propagated south-southwest through north central Alabama. Some of the storms produced localized damaging winds and up to quarter sized hail. Local flash flooding also occurred in the community of Cherokee in Colbert County, where over 2 inches of rain fell within 30 to 45 minutes.
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 May 24, 1:25 PM CST, 28 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 225 PM CDT MON MAY 24 2010 .DISCUSSION...ANOTHER WARM DAY IS UNDERWAY ACROSS THE TENNESSEE VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON WITH TEMPERATURES WITHIN A DEGREE OR TWO OF THE 90-DEGREE MARK. SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY HAS BEEN KEPT TO A MINIMUM ACROSS THE CWA THIS AFTERNOON...BUT SUCH IS NOT THE CASE FOR AREAS JUST NW OF HERE. CONVECTION HAS BEEN FIRING FOR THE PAST FEW HOURS ALONG A STAGNANT SURFACE BOUNDARY. SEVERAL INSTANCES OF HAIL AND WIND DAMAGE HAVE BEEN REPORTED SO FAR THIS AFTERNOON IN WEST TENNESSEE. ANY CONVECTION ONGOING LATER THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS OUR CWA WILL DISSIPATE WITH THE LOSS OF AFTERNOON HEATING AFTER SUNSET. THE NSSL WRF HAS HANDLED THE CURRENT TRENDS THE BEST AND THEREFORE THE SHORT-TERM PORTION OF THE FORECAST HAS CLOSELY FOLLOWED THIS OUTPUT. WITH THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WOBBLING OFF THE COAST OF THE CAROLINAS...SEVERAL DISTURBANCES WILL AFFECT THE AREA THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. AS A RESULT...TOMORROW...AND PRACTICALLY EVERY AFTERNOON THIS WEEK WILL BE MUCH OF THE SAME AS TODAY. DIURNAL HEATING COMBINED WITH THESE DISTURBANCES WILL PRODUCE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE TENNESSEE VALLEY EACH DAY. GIVEN THE STEEP LAPSE RATES IN PLACE AND THE SOMEWHAT COOLER AIR ALOFT DURING THIS TIME...DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL WILL BE THE PRIMARY THREATS WITH ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP. PWATS DURING THIS TIME ARE AROUND AN INCH AND A QUARTER...AND THEREFORE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE AS WELL. MOST MODELS ARE IN AGREEMENT WITH THE LOW OFF THE EAST COAST AND A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM COMING ASHORE IN THE PACIFIC NW LATE IN THE WEEK. THE MAIN DIFFERENCE WITHIN THE MODEL OUTPUT FOR LATE IN THE WEEK IS THAT THE GFS IS ADVERTISING A COLD FRONT PUSHING THROUGH THE REGION FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY. THE 06Z/12Z ECMWF ALSO SHOW THIS FRONTAL FEATURE LATE IN THE WEEK...SO WILL ADJUST THE FORECAST ACCORDINGLY. AM NOT BEING AS ROBUST WITH THE COOLER TEMPERATURES IN THE WAKE OF THE FRONT LIKE THE GFS SHOWS...BUT EITHER WAY...NEXT WEEKEND LOOKS TO HAVE MORE SEASONABLE TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE AREA WITH WEAK RIDGING/NORTHWESTERLY FLOW IN PLACE. AFTERNOON HIGHS WILL BE IN THE LOWER 80S AND OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL BE IN THE UPPER 50S TO LOWER 60S. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... HUNTSVILLE 66 87 65 88 66 / 10 30 10 20 10 SHOALS 66 89 64 89 65 / 10 30 10 20 10 VINEMONT 65 85 61 87 64 / 10 30 10 20 10 FAYETTEVILLE 66 86 62 86 65 / 10 30 10 20 10 ALBERTVILLE 66 86 63 88 65 / 10 30 10 20 10 FORT PAYNE 63 82 60 85 63 / 10 30 10 20 10 && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...NONE. TN...NONE. && 12
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 107 PM CDT MON MAY 24 2010 ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-250400- LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN- MARSHALL-JACKSON-DEKALB-CULLMAN-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN- 107 PM CDT MON MAY 24 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING MAINLY ACROSS LOCATIONS WEST OF INTERSTATE 65. SOME STORMS MAY BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL...HAIL...AND GUSTY WINDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH MUCH OF THE WORK WEEK AS A SERIES OF UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES MOVE ACROSS THE REGION. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE GUSTY WINDS...HAIL...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. KNS
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
223 PM CDT MON MAY 24 2010
ALZ001-002-242030-
COLBERT-LAUDERDALE-
223 PM CDT MON MAY 24 2010
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR COLBERT AND LAUDERDALE COUNTIES
UNTIL 330 PM CDT...
AT 220 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM COLLINWOOD TO ZIP
CITY TO FORD CITY...MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 10 MPH.
PENNY SIZE HAIL...WINDS UP TO 45 MPH...AND FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND
LIGHTNING ARE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS.
* LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH INCLUDE...
UNDERWOOD-PETERSVILLE.
FLORENCE.
MUSCLE SHOALS.
CLOVERDALE.
SHEFFIELD.
THREET...TUSCUMBIA.
REMEMBER...IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER...YOU ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO THE
STORM TO BE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. SEEK SAFE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.
&&
LAT...LON 3502 8763 3501 8759 3500 8758 3476 8747
3457 8783 3476 8799 3502 8811 3502 8810
TIME...MOT...LOC 1923Z 052DEG 7KT 3513 8778 3494 8767
3479 8760
KNSThe Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 127 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:54 UTC.
7 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
A tree and utility pole were blown down near Saint Florian.
Thunderstorm winds blew down power lines. A tree was also blown onto a house near Wright.
Hail up to quarter sized accumulated to around a half inch depth in Cherokee.
A large oak tree was knocked down near Cherokee.
A 27 foot tall tree was knocked down in Barton.
Over two inches of rain in a 30-45 minute period produced flash flooding at the intersection of Mount Hester Road, Highway 72 and Forrest Drive and at residences on 8th Street. Water over-spilled drainage culverts and flooded a few businesses.
Large tree limbs were blown down.
Penny sized hail was reported at a local grocery store.
Nickel sized hail was reported at a local gas station.
Trees were blown down near Eva Road and Forrest Avenue.
Four tree limbs were blown down onto roadways in Good Hope.
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, May 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: 221920, 221923, 221918, 221922, 221924, 221919, 221925, 221929, 221921, 221926, 221928.