A slow moving storm system produced very heavy rainfall and flash flooding in portions of southern middle Tennessee. Rainfall amounts through the event ranged from two to three inches, with a few areas receving up to four inches in a 12 to 18 hour time period.
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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.
A slow moving storm system produced very heavy rainfall and flash flooding in portions of southern middle Tennessee. Rainfall amounts through the event ranged from two to three inches, with a few areas receving up to four inches in a 12 to 18 hour time period.
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 28, 8:57 AM CST, 1 hour 33 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 957 AM CDT SUN APR 28 2013 .UPDATE... MADE SOME TWEAKS TO POPS BUT WILL KEEP REST OF FCST PARAMETERS AS IS FOR NOW. && .DISCUSSION... 5H TROF CONTINUES TO SLOWLY MOVE EAST ACROSS THE TN VALLEY WHILE THE SFC CDFNT EXTENDS ACROSS THE NW CORNER OF AL. THE CDFNT WILL LIKELY STALL OUT OVER NRN AL LATER THIS AFTN. THUS WITH A STALL CDFNT...PLENTY OF ATMOSPHERIC MOISTURE AND THE UPPER 5H TROF...EXPECT A CONTINUATION OF SHRA AND TSRA TODAY. NOT EXPECTING ANY SVR WX BUT SOME STORMS MAY ANY PRODUCE HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF PENNIES...GUSTY WINDS AND LOCALIZED HVY RAIN. AS THE TROF MOVES EAST OF THE CWA THIS EVENING THE PCPN WILL BEGIN TO TAPER OFF FROM WEST TO EAST...BEGINNING LATE MRNG OVER EXTREME NW AL AND THE REST OF THE CWA THIS AFTN. 07 && .AVIATION... /ISSUED 648 AM CDT SUN APR 28 2013/ FOR 12Z TAFS...A COMPLICATED AVIATION FORECAST WITH HIT-OR-MISS SHOWERS DIFFICULT TO TIME ACCURATELY GIVEN THEIR RAPIDLY EVOLVING NATURE. NEVERTHELESS...A LARGE AREA OF RAIN/SHRA WITH EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS IN ASSOC/W A WARM FRONT IS NOW PUSHING THROUGH NE AL AND DOWNSTREAM OF KHSV/KMSL TAF SITES. A FEW SHOWERS LINGER IN NW/NC AL AND A FEW MORE SHOWERS/TSTMS CAN BE SEEN IN REGIONAL RADAR IMAGERY DEVELOPING UPSTREAM IN NE MISS. CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF SCTD CONVECTION IS LIKELY AHEAD OF A CDFNT THIS MORNING AND ESPECIALLY INTO THE AFTERNOON HOURS WITH THE ADDED SOLAR HEATING. CEILINGS WERE RATHER DIFFICULT TO FCST AND THERE IS LIKELY TO BE SOME LARGE FLUCTUATIONS...FROM MVFR/VFR AND POSSIBLY LIFR-MVFR-VFR AT KMSL EARLY THIS MORNING. WHERE HVY CONVECTION OCCURS...BRIEF IFR CIGS/VIS IS POSSIBLE. KDW && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 439 AM CDT SUN APR 28 2013/ ROUNDS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MADE FOR A VERY BUSY OVERNIGHT THUS FAR. AS OF THIS WRITING...THE LINE OF STORMS WAS EXITING NE ALABAMA OR FROM NEAR CHATTANOOGA AND WEST OF FT PAYNE. OTHER ISOLATED TO SCATTERED ACTIVITY CONTINUED MOVING TOWARD THE REGION FROM THE SW...AFFECTING AREAS FROM NE OF TUPELO TO THE BANKHEAD NATL FOREST. SYNOPTICALLY...A WARM FRONT WAS DRAPED NNW TO SSE FROM WESTERN KY TO NEAR HUNTSVILLE AND COLUMBUS GA. COLD AIR WEDGING FROM THE NORTH ATLANTIC (OR THE EFFECTS FROM IT) HAS PRODUCED SOMEWHAT MORE STABLE CONDITIONS ACROSS NE ALABAMA...WHICH HAS HELPED TO TEMPER THE OVERALL STORM STRENGTH. IN EITHER AIRMASS...THE OVERNIGHT CONVECTION HAS BEEN RATHER ACTIVE IN THE LIGHTNING DEPARTMENT...WITH IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF 1000 CLOUD TO GROUND STRIKES PER HOUR OVER AND CLOSE TO OUR FORECAST/WARNING AREA. BIG PICTURE WISE...MID/HIGH LATITUDE BLOCKING WAS PRESENT ACROSS THE NORTH PACIFIC AND ATLANTIC/WESTERN EUROPE. A WEAK ZONAL/SPLIT PATTERN EXISTED ACROSS THE GREATER CONUS. AN WEAK LOW IN THE 500MB HEIGHT REGIME WAS MOVING ACROSS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS. ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX WAS MOVING OVER SE TEXAS AND THE NW GULF. A COLD FRONT LYING WEST OF THE REGION SHOULD PUSH TO THE EAST DURING THE COURSE OF TODAY AND TONIGHT. THIS WILL RESULT IN THE SHOWER ACTIVITY WINDING DOWN FROM WEST TO EAST TONIGHT. EXCEPT FOR LINGERING MORNING CONVECTION OVER NE ALABAMA MONDAY MORNING...A BRIEF RESPITE FROM SHOWER ACTIVITY APPEARS TO BE ON TRACK...AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN FROM THE NW. THE DRY SPELL WILL BE A SHORT LIVED AFFAIR. AN UPPER DISTURBANCE ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE PACIFIC BLOCK WILL MOVE TO THE SE AS MEAN TROUGHING FORMS ACROSS THE CENTRAL NORTH AMERICAN DOMAIN. AN UNSEASONABLY DEEP/COLD LOW IS FORECAST TO DEVELOP OVER THE WESTERN PLAINS AFTER MIDWEEK. THIS LOW APPARENTLY WILL BE THE WESTERN LOW IN A NEW OMEGA BLOCK SET TO FORM ACROSS THE EASTERN CONUS AND WESTERN ATLANTIC FOR THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK. COMPARED TO PREVIOUS RUNS...MUCH BETTER AGREEMENT WAS APPARENT FROM THIS MORNINGS MEDIUM RANGE GUIDANCE. THE GFS HAS REALLY SLOWED DOWN THE EASTWARD PROGRESS OF A COLD FRONT...GENERALLY HOLDING IT TO WEST OF THIS REGION. THE ECMWF ON THE OTHER HAND HAS TAKEN A SLIGHTLY MORE PROGRESSIVE TONE...BRINGING A FRONT ACROSS THE TENNESSEE VALLEY DURING LATE FRI. GIVEN THOSE DIFFERENCES...HAVE STAYED ON A SIMILAR FORECAST AS BEFORE...BRINGING THE FRONT ACROSS THE AREA EARLY SAT. PER THE NEW GUIDANCE...LOOKS LIKE THE COLDEST AIR FROM THIS NEXT SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE CENTRAL/HIGH PLAINS. BUT WITH THIS AMOUNT OF COLD AIR...COULD NOT RULE OUT A COLDER NEXT WEEKEND THAN WE HAVE GOING NOW. RSB && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...NONE. TN...NONE. && FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV/HUNTSVILLE.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 511 AM CDT SUN APR 28 2013 ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-281830- LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN- MARSHALL-JACKSON-DEKALB-CULLMAN-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN- 511 AM CDT SUN APR 28 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE INTO THE AFTERNOON. GUSTY WINDS...SMALL HAIL...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...AND HEAVY RAINFALL WILL AGAIN BE POSSIBLE WITH SOME OF THE STRONGER STORMS. MULTIPLE ROUNDS OF HEAVY RAINFALL OVER THE SAME AREAS MAY ALSO RESULT IN MINOR FLOODING OF ROADS AND LOW LYING AREAS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY... THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY MORNING ACROSS NORTHEAST ALABAMA...WITH GUSTY WINDS THE PRIMARY THREAT. AN ADDITIONAL CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL RETURN ON WEDNESDAY...AS MORE MOISTURE MOVES ACROSS THE REGION. A COLD FRONT MOVING IN MAY RESULT IN SOME OF THE STORMS BECOMING STRONG ON FRIDAY. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
851 AM CDT SUN APR 28 2013
ALZ003-004-281430-
LAWRENCE AL-FRANKLIN AL-
851 AM CDT SUN APR 28 2013
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR CENTRAL LAWRENCE AND EASTERN
FRANKLIN COUNTIES UNTIL 930 AM CDT...
AT 850 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR PHIL CAMPBELL...OR 9 MILES SOUTH OF
RUSSELLVILLE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.
HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF PENNIES WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.
LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
MOULTON...PHIL CAMPBELL...NORTH COURTLAND AND COURTLAND.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
THIS STORM MAY INTENSIFY...SO BE CERTAIN TO MONITOR LOCAL RADIO AND
TV STATIONS...AS WELL AS LOCAL CABLE TV OUTLETS...FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
&&
LAT...LON 3457 8758 3457 8752 3458 8751 3460 8751
3461 8750 3475 8727 3451 8710 3431 8760
3431 8781 3440 8787
TIME...MOT...LOC 1349Z 239DEG 32KT 3436 8774
KDWSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1034 AM CDT SUN APR 28 2013
TNZ076-096-097-281615-
MOORE TN-LINCOLN TN-FRANKLIN TN-
1034 AM CDT SUN APR 28 2013
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTH CENTRAL MOORE...
SOUTHEASTERN LINCOLN AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES UNTIL 1115 AM CDT...
AT 1030 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM 8 MILES WEST OF HUNTLAND...OR 9 MILES SOUTHEAST
OF FAYETTEVILLE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.
HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF PENNIES WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.
LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
WINCHESTER...LEXIE CROSSROADS...ESTILL SPRINGS...AND TIMS FORD LAKE.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
THIS STORM MAY INTENSIFY...SO BE CERTAIN TO MONITOR LOCAL RADIO AND
TV STATIONS...AS WELL AS LOCAL CABLE TV OUTLETS...FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
&&
LAT...LON 3534 8603 3534 8603 3531 8600 3531 8595
3528 8591 3522 8586 3520 8587 3499 8639
3499 8646 3512 8655 3536 8615
TIME...MOT...LOC 1530Z 239DEG 31KT 3509 8642
KDWThe Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 47 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:31 UTC.
3 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flash flooding occurred with several inches of water covering the road along and near Highway 130, about nine miles east-northeast of Lynchburg, Tennessee.
Flash flooding occurred with several inches of water over the road along Stewart Lane in Estill Springs, Tennessee.
Flash flooding occurred with several inches of water reported over the road along Water Tank road, near the intersection of Jackson street and Bookout road in Cowan, Tennessee.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Tennessee in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Tennessee, April 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: 437381, 437382, 437383.