A weak frontal boundary stalled out in north central MS helped to support a line of|showers and a few storms in NW AL. Sub-severe winds with one tree down was reported.
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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 weak frontal boundary stalled out in north central MS helped to support a line of|showers and a few storms in NW AL. Sub-severe winds with one tree down 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 May 29, 1:44 PM CST, 2 hours 26 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Huntsville AL 244 PM CDT Mon May 29 2017 .NEAR TERM...(Tonight) Issued at 244 PM CDT Mon May 29 2017 A slight increase in coverage of showers and a few thunderstorms has been noted over the past hour or two. This is especially true west of Huntsville where some slightly clearing was noted and they seem to be forming along differential heating boundaries created from those clouds. These storms will continue to track eastward. A frontal boundary is still stalled out in north central MS and has made little progress through the afternoon. It looks like the line of showers and a few storms out there right now is forming along this boundary. An upper low continues to spin north of the Great Lakes and will drift slightly farther north overnight. Guidance is desperately trying to move this front through the area. Previous forecasts had it moving through Sunday night, then Monday and now they are pushing it through tonight. Each of these times, guidance is producing fairly widespread rainfall along the front so to say this is uncertain, is the truth. Model guidance is indicating mid/upper level waves moving through this evening which will turn winds aloft more westerly. This could give the front enough of a push to finally move it closer to the area and maybe push it through overnight. Either way, there is another upper wave expected over the area and that will help keep scattered showers and thunderstorms in the forecast this evening and diminishing by midnight. Left the area dry after midnight through Tuesday morning. Cannot rule out a strong storm but judging by how low topped the current storms are, this is going to be hard to get. Lows tonight will be near normal, in the lower 60s. .SHORT TERM...(Tuesday through Wednesday Night) Issued at 244 PM CDT Mon May 29 2017 Assuming the frontal boundary pushes south or maybe on top of the area, an additional upper wave will move across and once again, help create showers and thunderstorms along the front. This looks to be mostly south of the area but could clip our southern counties. Looks like another weak wave could interact with the terrain in the northeast and produce a few showers/storms as well. In conclusion, scattered showers/thunderstorms for the entire forecast area seems like a good bet. A strong storm is not out of the question Tuesday with instability/lapse rates higher than today. There is more dry air and slightly lower dew points then what we have been seeing but there is basically zero shear. Given the uncertainty of the boundaries, could just be some pop up showers and a storm or two. Feel that Tue night should be mostly dry with any storms diminishing by midnight. However, given lingering instability aloft and waves moving along the upper low, will leave in isolated POPs and match the neighbors. With the upper low still lingering in the same location as it is in right now, another front will be able to develop and approach the area on Wednesday. Southerly winds ahead of it should be able to pull dewpoints back into the mid to upper 60s with PW values around 1.25-1.5 inches. Instability/lapse rates will be higher than previous days and shear at the lower levels will be non zero (although that's not saying much). There isn't much upper support but I have slightly higher confidence in a few strong storms, maybe 1 or 2 severe for Wednesday. Once again, the front moves through, shifting winds to the NW and with the loss of daytime heating, storms end by midnight. Temps will be near normal with highs Tue-Wed in the lower 80s and lows in the lower 60s. .LONG TERM...(Thursday through Sunday) Issued at 244 PM CDT Mon May 29 2017 During the afternoon hours on Thursday, models push a warm front northeast into northern Alabama. Most guidance develops at least scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon along this boundary. Best coverage with it will be along/near the surface warm front and the upper level energy associated with it. A fairly moist boundary layer looks to still be in place, along with dry air aloft and fairly steep low level lapse rates. There looks to be little shear (speed or directional) given the weak and low level flow. Thus would expect typically summertime pulse storms that could become strong. The main threats with any strong storms would be gusty winds to around 40 mph, small hail, and frequent lightning given forecast surface based instability. Clouds and precipitation should keep high temperatures mainly in the lower 80s. The exception being east of I- 65, which may see a bit more sunshine and thus have highs in the lower to mid 80s there. As the warm front pushes northeast across northern Alabama Thursday night, rain chances should increase, but kept them high chance for now. More pronounced southerly or southwesterly low level flow will warm overnight lows into the mid 60s by Friday morning. Models seem to wash out the boundary (warm front) over or just north of the area Friday into Saturday, keeping scattered showers and thunderstorms in the forecast. Similar parameters continue to be in place during this period. Thus a continuation of strong storms are possible. Between the clouds and scattered precipitation, this should keep highs in the lower 80s. By Saturday afternoon into Saturday night, both GFS and ECMWF move a decent longwave trough axis southeast from Texas/Ohio into the Tennessee Valley. This should increase forcing over the area, especially Saturday night. Shear still doesn't look that great, but again enough instability should be in place for strong storms capable of frequent lightning and gusty winds. A better coverage of precipitation is shown by models during this period (especially in the afternoon/evening). However, given how far out in the forecast this is, only kept high chance pop for now. With cloud cover and more widespread rainfall, high temperatures around 80 degrees look more likely. This may even be too high for temperatures. Lows will remain pretty warm (upper 60s to around 70 degrees) with southerly flow expect through Saturday night ahead of the longwave trough axis. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Tuesday afternoon) Issued at 1221 PM CDT Mon May 29 2017 Uncertain forecast today in regards to coverage of showers/thunderstorms as well as CIG heights. Even so, added a TEMPO for -TSRA this afternoon although confidence is not high on the coverage of actual thunderstorms with higher confidence in scattered to numerous rain showers. Will go ahead and include -SHRA in the start of the TAFs but it will be on/off showers, not continuous. CIGS to the west and now at KMSL are hovering around 2000-2500ft but expect them to bounce a little depending on rainfall and the multiple cloud decks that are around the area. Will go with the 2500-3500ft for now and will continue to monitor for amendments. Fog and lower visibility is possible tomorrow morning and could get lower than the 4SM currently forecast. Otherwise, light and variable winds outside of thunderstorms are possible. && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...NONE. TN...NONE. && NEAR TERM...LN SHORT TERM...LN LONG TERM...KTW AVIATION...LN For more information please visit our website at weather.gov/huntsville.
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Huntsville AL 243 PM CDT Mon May 29 2017 ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-301045- Lauderdale-Colbert-Franklin AL-Lawrence-Limestone-Madison-Morgan- Marshall-Jackson-De Kalb-Cullman-Moore-Lincoln-Franklin TN- 243 PM CDT Mon May 29 2017 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for north Alabama and portions of southern middle Tennessee. .DAY ONE...Rest of Today and Tonight... Isolated to scattered thunderstorms will continue this afternoon and evening. A strong storm or two is possible with gusty winds being the highest threat. Thunderstorms will diminish after sunset with a few storms lingering through midnight. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday... Scattered thunderstorms will be possible every day through the long term with the highest coverage each afternoon. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... Activation of storm spotters and emergency management personnel is not expected at this time.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1110 AM CDT MON MAY 29 2017
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1010 PM TSTM WND DMG 8 NNW SKYLINE 34.92N 86.16W
05/27/2017 JACKSON AL PUBLIC
SEVERAL TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN AT THIS
LOCATION NEAR HURRICANE CREEK.
&&Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Huntsville AL 248 PM CDT MON MAY 29 2017 ALZ001-292015- Lauderdale AL- 248 PM CDT MON MAY 29 2017 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NORTH CENTRAL LAUDERDALE COUNTY UNTIL 315 PM CDT... At 247 PM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 11 miles southeast of Walnut Grove, or 14 miles east of J P Coleman State Park, moving east at 25 mph. Winds in excess of 40 mph will be possible with this storm. Locations impacted include... Florence, St. Florian, Underwood-Petersville, Threet, Zip City and Cloverdale. LAT...LON 3500 8756 3481 8759 3489 8795 3500 8795 TIME...MOT...LOC 1947Z 279DEG 20KT 3494 8790 Stumpf
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A tree was knocked down at CR 8 at CR 79.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, May 2017
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: 696478.