Thunderstorms erupted rapidly just after the noon hour in northwest Alabama along an outflow boundary that propagated eastward from earlier thunderstorm activity in the mid South. One of the storms became severe in Limestone and Madison Counties, producing hail up to quarter sized and knocking down or uprooting trees.
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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 rapidly just after the noon hour in northwest Alabama along an outflow boundary that propagated eastward from earlier thunderstorm activity in the mid South. One of the storms became severe in Limestone and Madison Counties, producing hail up to quarter sized and knocking down or uprooting trees.
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 22, 10:53 AM CST, 52 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 1153 AM CDT SUN MAY 22 2011 .UPDATE... FOR 18Z TAFS. && .AVIATION... TSRA WL AFFECT KMSL VCNTY THRU 20Z...AND PERHAPS THRU EARLY EVENING. THE STORMS WL GENERATE BRIEF GUSTY WINDS AND PSBLY MVFR/IFR CONDS DUE TO VSBY REDUCTION IN +RA. WL MAINTAIN VCTS AND AMD FOR STORM TRENDS AS THEY DVLP. THE STORM RISK IS LWR AT KHSV...BUT HAVE INCLUDED VCTS THIS AFTN AS WELL. THE RISK OF TSRA WL DIMINISH EARLY THIS EVENING...WITH ADDITIONAL TSRA PSBL LATE TNGT. HOWEVER..CONFIDENCE IS TOO LOW TO INCLUDE IN PREVAILING FCST ATTM. VFR CONDS SHOULD PREVAIL OUTSIDE VCNTY OF TSRA ACTIVITY. && .DISCUSSION.../ISSUED AT 906 AM CDT SUN MAY 22 2011/ MCS OVER THE MID SOUTH IS ORGANIZING AND EXPANDING AS IT MOVES ENE. PER 8H ANALYSIS...IT RESIDES AT THE NOSE OF THE WARM/MOIST AXES. RUC 13 MOISTURE TRANSPORT VECTORS CONTINUE TO PRODUCE NEW DEVELOPMENT IN CENTRAL AR. PRESENT MOVEMENT WL BRING THIS SYS ACROSS FAR NWRN AL AND EVENTUALLY INTO MIDDLE TN...CLIPPING OUR SRN TN COUNTIES. 0-6KM BULK SHEAR VALUES OF 35-45KT AND A STEEP 850-650MB LAPSE RATE ON THE 12Z OHX SOUNDING INDICATE A MARGINAL SVR WIND/HAIL THREAT. WL ADJUST THE FCST TO GO WTIH LIKELY POPS IN NWRN AL/SRN TN...GIVEN SOME UNCERTAINTY YET AS THE ENVIRONMENT IS A BIT DRIER IN NRN AL. HWO HAS ALSO BEEN UPDATED. && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...NONE. TN...NONE. && KULA
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 907 AM CDT SUN MAY 22 2011 ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-221800- LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN- MARSHALL-JACKSON-DEKALB-CULLMAN-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN- 907 AM CDT SUN MAY 22 2011 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. THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI WILL MOVE TO THE NORTHEAST TODAY. THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THIS ACTIVITY WILL IMPACT LOCATIONS IN NORTHWESTERN ALABAMA AND SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING WITH SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. A FEW OF THESE STORMS COULD BE STRONG PRODUCING GUSTY WINDS BETWEEN 40 AND 50 MPH...BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL...SMALL HAIL...AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY... ADDITIONAL ROUNDS OF ISOLATED AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS MAY OCCUR AGAIN ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY. BRIEF GUSTY WINDS AND LIGHTNING WILL BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS AND THE HIGHEST CHANCE WILL AGAIN BE NORTH OF THE TENNESSEE RIVER. THE THREAT FOR MORE WIDESPREAD AND ORGANIZED THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY AS A COLD FRONT APPROACHES. A FEW OF THE STORMS COULD BE STRONG WITH GUSTY WINDS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. 20
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1208 PM CDT SUN MAY 22 2011
ALZ004-007-221745-
LAWRENCE-MORGAN-
1208 PM CDT SUN MAY 22 2011
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHERN LAWRENCE
AND NORTHWESTERN MORGAN COUNTIES UNTIL 1245 PM CDT...
DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR HATTON...OR 10
MILES NORTHWEST OF MOULTON...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.
PEA SIZE HAIL AND WINDS UP TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM.
* LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH INCLUDE...
CHALYBEATE SPRINGS...WHEELER.
HILLSBORO.
CADDO.
TRINITY...BASHAM.
SEEK SHELTER AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.
&&
LAT...LON 3447 8753 3461 8750 3471 8713 3467 8708
3466 8704 3465 8703 3451 8700
TIME...MOT...LOC 1708Z 260DEG 26KT 3457 8742
KULASPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1232 PM CDT SUN MAY 22 2011
ALZ005-006-221815-
LIMESTONE-MADISON-
1232 PM CDT SUN MAY 22 2011
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR LIMESTONE AND MADISON COUNTIES
UNTIL 115 PM CDT...
AT 1230 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING
A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR TRINITY...OR 7 MILES NORTHWEST OF
DECATUR...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE
DEVELOPING ACROSS NORTHWEST MADISON COUNTY NORTH OF HARVEST...ALSO
MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.
PEA SIZE HAIL AND WINDS UP TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS.
* LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH INCLUDE...
TANNER.
ATHENS.
BELLE MINA.
FRENCH MILL...CAPSHAW.
REMEMBER...IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER...YOU ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO THE
STORM TO BE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. SEEK SAFE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.
&&
LAT...LON 3500 8662 3466 8666 3461 8696 3465 8702
3465 8704 3467 8708 3469 8710 3474 8710
3500 8683
TIME...MOT...LOC 1731Z 249DEG 15KT 3467 8707
KULAThe Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 79 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:42 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Trees were blown down in the Belle Mina area.
A tree was blown down in the Ardmore Estates community.
Quarter size hail was reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, May 2011
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: 321381, 321386, 321383.