A warm front stretched from extreme south Georgia and northwest into south Alabama. A cluster of thunderstorms developed along the warm front and pushed rapidly northward, producing isolated severe storms.
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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 BMX wrote it up.
A warm front stretched from extreme south Georgia and northwest into south Alabama. A cluster of thunderstorms developed along the warm front and pushed rapidly northward, producing isolated severe storms.
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 May 14, 5:44 PM CST, 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 644 PM CDT THU MAY 14 2015 .UPDATE... FOR 00Z AVIATION. && .DISCUSSION... WATCHING A WARM FRONT BEGIN TO LIFT NORTHWARD THIS AFTERNOON....AND WILL MOVE INTO THE SOUTHERN SECTIONS OF CENTRAL ALABAMA BY 5 PM. THIS FRONT WILL SLIDE NORTH THROUGH THE NIGHT AND BRING RAIN CHANCES WITH IT. HIGHEST CHANCES WILL BE BEFORE MIDNIGHT WITH THE HEATING OF THE DAY. ADDED IN SOME LIKELY POPS NOW THROUGH MIDNIGHT FOR THE SOUTHEAST TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS. THE CHANCE IS HIGH BUT THE OVERALL COVERAGE REMAINS SCATTERED IN FLORIDA AS IT MOVES INTO SOUTHERN ALABAMA. WITH THE WARM FRONT TO THE NORTH OF THE AREA...FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY WILL BE HIGHLY DEPENDENT ON SHORTWAVES SLIDING THROUGH THE AREA. THE FIRST WAVE APPEARS TO DEVELOP ALONG THE COAST LATE FRIDAY MORNING AND THEN SLIDE NORTHWARD FRIDAY AFTERNOON. LOOKS LIKE MOST AREAS WILL BE MORE IN THE HIT AND MISS ACTIVITY DURING THE FIRST 8 TO 9 HOURS OF THE PERIOD FOR FRIDAY WITH MORE WIDELY SPREAD SHOWERS/STORMS AFTER 3 PM AS THE CONVECTION ALONG THE COAST WOULD CUT THE RICHEST MOISTURE FROM WORKING INTO THE AREA UNTIL THE DISTURBANCE SLIDES IN ITSELF. THAT WAVE SLIDES OUT FRIDAY NIGHT AND A SECOND DISTURBANCE SLIDES IN LATE SATURDAY MORNING. THIS DISTURBANCE APPEARS TO BE SLIGHT WEST OF THE AREA AND WOULD KEEP THE GULF MOISTURE OPEN TO STREAM INTO THE AREA SO THERE MAY BE BETTER OVERALL COVERAGE ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON INTO SATURDAY EVENING. A THIRD DISTURBANCE SLIDES THROUGH SUNDAY. IT APPEARS A LITTLE BIT MORE MOISTURE STARVED AS MOST OF THE ACTIVITY WILL BE CONCENTRATED FURTHER WEST ALONG A COLD FRONT. NOW FOR THE COLD FRONT ITSELF...LOOKS LIKE IT WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA MONDAY MORNING AND SLOWLY SLIDE THROUGH BY MONDAY EVENING/TUESDAY. ANY DYNAMICS THAT WOULD SUPPORT SEVERE STORMS WILL BE WELL NORTH AND WEST OF THE AREA...SO NOT ANTICIPATING ANY SEVERE WEATHER AT THIS TIME. A DRY PERIOD IS IN STORM FOR WEDNESDAY AND NEXT THURSDAY BEFORE THE WARM FRONT LIFTS BACK NORTH FOR ALMOST A REPEAT OF THIS UPCOMING WEEK. 16 && .AVIATION... 00Z TAF DISCUSSION. SHOWERS AND STORMS CURRENTLY ONGOING ACROSS THE SOUTHERN TERMINALS AT KMGM AND KTOI. EXPECT THIS ACTIVITY WILL DIMINISH BY 03Z BUT WILL AMEND TAFS IF PRESENT CONDITIONS PERSIST. LOW LEVEL EASTERLY FLOW WILL ADVECT IN LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WITH MVFR CONDITIONS SPREADING ACROSS THE TERMINALS FROM EAST TO WEST. WENT AHEAD AND ADDED MVFR CONDITIONS OVERNIGHT AT ALL TAF LOCATIONS EXCEPTS FOR KTCL. MOISTURE INCREASES TOMORROW WITH A GOOD CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND STORMS DURING THE AFTERNOON. THEREFORE..ADDED VCTS AT ALL OF THE TERMINALS AFTER 18Z. 05/MA && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 421 AM CDT THU MAY 14 2015 ALZ011>015-017>050-151230- MARION-LAMAR-FAYETTE-WINSTON-WALKER-BLOUNT-ETOWAH-CALHOUN-CHEROKEE- CLEBURNE-PICKENS-TUSCALOOSA-JEFFERSON-SHELBY-ST. CLAIR-TALLADEGA- CLAY-RANDOLPH-SUMTER-GREENE-HALE-PERRY-BIBB-CHILTON-COOSA-TALLAPOOSA- CHAMBERS-MARENGO-DALLAS-AUTAUGA-LOWNDES-ELMORE-MONTGOMERY-MACON- BULLOCK-LEE-RUSSELL-PIKE-BARBOUR- 421 AM CDT THU MAY 14 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE...OUTLOOK THROUGH TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 66 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:04 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Several trees uprooted near the community of Blanton.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, May 2015
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: 579177.