Windy conditions developed ahead of a cold front that pushed through the Tennessee Valley during the evening of 13th into the early morning hours of the 14th. Southeast to south winds increased to 20 to 30 mph, with gusts over 40 mph reported.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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.
Windy conditions developed ahead of a cold front that pushed through the Tennessee Valley during the evening of 13th into the early morning hours of the 14th. Southeast to south winds increased to 20 to 30 mph, with gusts over 40 mph reported. A few gusts to 45 mph were observed.
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 13, 10:58 PM CST, 2 hours 2 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 1058 PM CST SUN DEC 13 2015 .UPDATE... FOR 06Z TAFS && .DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 644 PM CST SUN DEC 13 2015/ S-SELY FLOW IS INCREASING THIS EVENING WITH SUSTAINED WINDS OF 20-30 MPH AND GUSTS OVER 30 MPH IN A FEW SPOTS ALREADY. WINDS ARE SLOWER TO INCREASE IN OUR EASTERN VALLEYS, BUT THAT SHOULD CHANGE SOON. GUSTS OVER 40 MPH ARE BEING REPORTED IN WRN TN AND EASTERN MS AHEAD OF THE APPROACHING SQUALL LINE. THE KHTX VWP IS SHOWING 50KT NOW IN THE 3-6KFT LAYER WITH 30-40KT AROUND 2KFT. THE SQUALL LINE IS BEING MODELLED QUITE WELL BY THE HRRR AS FAR AS ORIENTATION AND INTENSITY. HOWEVER, THE MODEL APPEARS TO BE ABOUT AN HOUR OR TWO SLOW WITH THE PROGRESSION. THIS BEING SAID, OUR EASTERN COUNTIES SHOULD STILL REMAIN DRY THRU 03Z, IF NOT 06Z, SO MADE SOME MINOR ADJUSTMENTS IN THIS AREA. THE LINE SHOULD STILL ENTER NWRN AL BETWEEN 04-06Z. INTENSITY OF THE LINE MAY REMAIN STRONG THRU EARLY THIS EVENING, BUT IS EXPECTED TO DIMINISH GREATLY UPON ITS ENTRY THRU MIDDLE TN AND NRN AL. THE GREATEST THREAT OF GUSTY WINDS WITH THIS LINE WILL BE IN FAR NWRN AL, BUT EXPECT THIS THREAT TO GO DOWN AS IT MOVES EAST AS IT ENCOUNTERS SLIGHTLY DRIER AIR. THE OHX AND BMX SOUNDINGS SHOWS A VERY STRONG CAPPING INVERSION AT 800 MB WHICH SHOULD ALSO TEND TO INHIBIT UPDRAFT DEPTH OVER OUR AREA. && .AVIATION... FOR 06Z TAFS... WINDY CONDS WILL PERSIST AHEAD OF LINE OF +SHRA ENTERING NWRN AL. LLWS WILL ALSO CONTINUE AT KHSV UNTIL THIS LINE MOVES THRU. BRIEF IFR VSBYS DUE TO HEAVY RAIN SHOWERS WILL THEN BE FOLLOWED BY MVFR CIGS OF 015-025AGL AND -RA UNTIL 12-14Z. VFR CONDS ARE THEN EXPECTED TO RETURN MONDAY MORNING. SOUTHERLY WINDS MAY GUST NEAR 20KT ON MONDAY, THEN BECOME LIGHT BY THE END OF THE DAY. && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 4 AM CST MONDAY FOR ALZ001>010-016. TN...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 4 AM CST MONDAY FOR TNZ076-096-097. && FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV/HUNTSVILLE.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 613 PM CST SUN DEC 13 2015 ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-141000- LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN- MARSHALL-JACKSON-DEKALB-CULLMAN-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN- 613 PM CST SUN DEC 13 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA... NORTHEAST ALABAMA...NORTHWEST ALABAMA AND SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT... SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL INCREASE INTO THE 25 TO 30 MPH RANGE THIS EVENING...WITH GUSTS OF 35 TO 40 MPH AT TIMES. A WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE ENTIRE REGION THROUGH 4 AM MONDAY. WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND A FEW EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS WILL ACCOMPANY THE PASSAGE OF THE COLD FRONT AFTER 10 PM IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA...AND AFTER MIDNIGHT EAST OF INTERSTATE 65 IN SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE AND NORTHEAST ALABAMA. THE LINE OF SHOWERS AND STORMS WILL PRODUCE BRIEF WIND GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 MPH...ESPECIALLY IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY... A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE IMMEDIATELY AFTER SUNRISE ON MONDAY FOR FAR NORTHEAST ALABAMA. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
905 PM CST SUN DEC 13 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0902 PM NON-TSTM WND DMG 1 N FLORENCE 34.81N 87.68W
12/13/2015 LAUDERDALE AL EMERGENCY MNGR
TWO TREES WERE KNOCKED DOWN IN NORTH FLORENCE.
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
906 PM CST SUN DEC 13 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0853 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 4 E MUSCLE SHOALS 34.74N 87.60W
12/13/2015 M44 MPH COLBERT AL ASOS
AT THE NORTHWEST ALABAMA REGIONAL AIRPORT.
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
907 PM CST SUN DEC 13 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0851 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 4 E MUSCLE SHOALS 34.74N 87.60W
12/13/2015 M44.00 MPH COLBERT AL ASOS
AT THE NORTHWEST ALABAMA REGIONAL AIRPORT.
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1103 PM CST SUN DEC 13 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0851 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 4 E MUSCLE SHOALS 34.74N 87.60W
12/13/2015 M44.00 MPH COLBERT AL ASOS
AT THE NORTHWEST ALABAMA REGIONAL AIRPORT.
0902 PM NON-TSTM WND DMG 1 N FLORENCE 34.81N 87.68W
12/13/2015 LAUDERDALE AL EMERGENCY MNGR
TWO TREES WERE KNOCKED DOWN IN NORTH FLORENCE.
1023 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 4 E MUSCLE SHOALS 34.74N 87.60W
12/13/2015 M45.00 MPH COLBERT AL ASOS
AT NORTHWEST ALABAMA REGIONAL AIRPORT. REPORTS OF POWER
OUTAGES IN THE SHOALS AREA.
1047 PM TSTM WND GST 4 NNE DECATUR 34.66N 86.94W
12/13/2015 M45.00 MPH LIMESTONE AL ASOS
AT PRYOR FIELD.
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1105 PM CST SUN DEC 13 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1055 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 2 ENE BELLEVIEW 35.06N 86.56W
12/13/2015 M44 MPH LINCOLN TN AWOS
AT FAYETTEVILLE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Fayetteville Municipal Airport AWOS reported gusts over 40 MPH with a gust of 44 MPH at approx. 5 Z.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Tennessee in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Tennessee, December 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: 610115.