A quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) developed over the lower Mississippi Valley and tracked eastward into the Tennessee Valley during the evening and overnight hours of the 21st into the 22nd. Ahead of the line, windy conditions developed with south winds gusting to over 40 mph at times.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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.
A quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) developed over the lower Mississippi Valley and tracked eastward into the Tennessee Valley during the evening and overnight hours of the 21st into the 22nd. Ahead of the line, windy conditions developed with south winds gusting to over 40 mph at times. A few reports of tree damage resulted from these winds. The thunderstorms and showers produced strong winds at times, producing a few reports of tree damage as well. Rainfall of 1 to 2 inches were common across the entire area. As the band of heavier showers and storms slowed down over north central Alabama, rainfall amounts increased to over 3 inches in parts of the Huntsville metro area causing localized flash flooding in a couple of poor drainage locations. Small creeks and streams experienced rapid rises for a short time period, but no significant river flooding was reported.
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 Dec 21, 6:55 PM CST, 1 hour 42 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 655 PM CST SAT DEC 21 2013 .MESOSCALE UPDATE... 00Z RAOBS SUGGEST A GRADIENT IN SFC-BASED INSTABILITY FROM N-S BASED ON A NASHVILLE SOUNDING WHICH HAS LITTLE CAPE, WHILE BMX AND JAN SHOW MORE SUBSTANTIAL CAPE IN THE 400-800 J/KG RANGE. SRH IS BASED LARGELY IN THE LOWEST 1KM WITH VALUES NEARING 600 M2/S2 AT NASHVILLE AND 350-400 M2/S2 AT BIRMINGHAM. AMPLE LOW LEVEL FLOW IS ADVECTING DEW POINTS INTO THE M60S OVER NRN AL NOW WITH TEMPS STILL IN THE L-M70S (RECORD HIGH TEMP AT KMSL). PRIND ARE THAT THE SQLN WILL REACH THE AL STATE LINE IN OUR CWA BY 03-04Z. CONVERGENCE LINES/SHRA ARE DEVELOPING AHEAD OF THE SQLN WHICH HAS US SOMEWHAT CONCERNED FOR DISCRETE SUPERCELL DEVELOPMENT BEFORE THE LINE OVERTAKES THIS. THE CAPE VALUES WOULD SUGGEST THIS TO BE MORE LIKELY JUST S-SW OF OUR CWA, BUT GIVEN ADVECTION FIELDS, I CANNOT RULE THIS OUT IN OUR AREA AS WELL. BASED UPON THE MD ISSUED BY SPC, WE SHOULD SEE A WATCH ISSUED FOR OUR AREA SOON. WE COULD SEE A WEAKENING TREND AS THE MAX SFC PRESSURE FALLS ARE LIFTING WELL NORTH INTO IN/KY. IN THIS CASE, SOME MOMENTUM/CONVERGENCE MAY WEAKEN SOMEWHAT AND WIND FIELDS BECOME MORE PARALLEL TO THE LINE. IN THIS CASE, HEAVY RAIN MAY BECOME MORE OF A PROBLEM. KULA && .AVIATION... /ISSUED 522 PM CST SAT DEC 21 2013/ FOR 00Z TAFS... WINDY CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL TONIGHT IN ADVANCE OF SQUALL LINE. SPORADIC SHRA WILL OCCUR AHEAD OF THE SOLID LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS, ALONG WITH VARIABLE MVFR CIGS AT TIMES. THE SQUALL LINE MAY PRODUCE STRONG WINDS OF AT LEAST 40KT, BUT IT COULD BE HIGHER ALONG WITH BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL LOWERING VSBYS TO 1SM OR LESS. BEHIND THE LINE, STRATIFORM RAINFALL AND MVFR CIGS WILL OCCUR THRU MOST OF SUNDAY MORNING BEFORE SOME DRIER AIR WORKS IN DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. AK && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 3 AM CST SUNDAY FOR ALZ001>010-016. TN...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 3 AM CST SUNDAY FOR TNZ076-096-097. && FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV/HUNTSVILLE.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 315 PM CST SAT DEC 21 2013 ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-221100- LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN- MARSHALL-JACKSON-DEKALB-CULLMAN-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN- 315 PM CST SAT DEC 21 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT... SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL INCREASE 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH. RIDGETOPS AND HIGHER ELEVATIONS ABOVE 1500 FEET WILL EXPERIENCE STRONGER WIND GUSTS. A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT THROUGH 3 AM CST SUNDAY. LATER THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT...A LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA. THE LINE WILL BEGIN TO IMPACT NORTHWEST ALABAMA BETWEEN 8 AND 10 PM. POCKETS OF DAMAGING WINDS OF 45 TO 65 MPH WILL BE THE PRIMARY THREAT. HOWEVER...SHORT-LIVED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY WITH ANY DISCRETE STORMS THAT DEVELOP JUST ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE MAIN SQUALL LINE. THE GREATEST RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE ALONG AND WEST OF A FAYETTEVILLE TO HUNTSVILLE TO CULLMAN LINE. THE SQUALL LINE IS EXPECTED TO GRADUALLY WEAKEN AS IT MOVES EAST OVERNIGHT...BUT THE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL PERSIST UNTIL THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXIT THE AREA...SOMETIME BETWEEN 4 AND 8 AM CST SUNDAY. IN ADDITION...ONE TO TWO INCHES OF RAINFALL COULD CREATE MINOR LOWLAND AND URBAN FLOODING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY... THE PROBABILITY OF WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. THE EXITING LINE OF SHOWERS AND ISOLATED STORMS COULD POSE A LINGERING THREAT FOR STRONGER WINDS THROUGH MID MORNING...MAINLY ACROSS NORTHEAST ALABAMA. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS LIKELY TONIGHT THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. CCC/DJN
The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 128 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:55 UTC.
5 thunderstorm wind, 4 strong wind, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Non-thunderstorm strong winds blew down a tree at the intersection of Highway 157 and county road 85, two miles northwest of Cloverdale, Alabama.
A tree was downed by thunderstorm winds on Riverton Rose Trail and on Snow Road.
CWOP Station DW9506 reported a wind gust at 63 mph.
Strong non-thunderstorm winds in advance of a cold front resulted in a large tree downed in the Cotaco community and another tree downed onto a home on Johnson Street in Decatur, Alabama.
Non-thunderstorm strong winds resulted in a tree being downed one mile east of Killen, Alabama on Francis Drive.
Several trees were downed by thunderstorm winds along County Road 14.
Strong non-thunderstorm winds resulted in a tree being downed across Highway 101, just north of Highway 157, about two miles northeast of Town Creek, Alabama.
A tree was downed by thunderstorm winds on East Avenue/or County Road 497.
Thunderstorm winds resulted in a roof being peeled back from a mobile home along Scott Branch Road.
Heavy rain caused flash flooding to occur with around a foot of water over the road at the intersection of Moores Mill Road and Darwin Road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, December 2013
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: 481474, 481475, 481476, 481477, 481478, 481479, 481480, 481558, 481559, 481560.