Rounds of showers and thunderstorms developed ahead of an approaching cold front over northern Alabama ahead of an approaching cold front during the late morning and afternoon hours. Tragically, a boater on Lake Guntersville was struck by lightning while fishing and was seriously injured.
Every event with a place to put it. 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.
Rounds of showers and thunderstorms developed ahead of an approaching cold front over northern Alabama ahead of an approaching cold front during the late morning and afternoon hours. Tragically, a boater on Lake Guntersville was struck by lightning while fishing and was seriously injured.
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 24, 5:13 AM CST, 4 hours 58 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Huntsville AL 613 AM CDT Sat May 24 2025 ...New AVIATION... .NEAR TERM... (Today) Issued at 313 AM CDT Sat May 24 2025 An active morning satellite picture as several MCS's are positioned to our northwest. The initial complex of storms just southeast of the Memphis metro as of 3am has been gradually weakening over the last hour or two. However, recent obs suggest the outflow boundary it produced is showing 20-30 mph wind gusts. This boundary should reach NW AL around 5-6 am. Based on mesoanalysis, these storms are elevated and are expected to remain sub-severe given meager instability with MUCAPE values around 500 J/kg. Once this round pushes through this morning, CAMs diverge in solutions of what exactly will reach the local forecast area from the two upstream MCS's over the Plains. Best guess is that the early morning storms across N. AL will help keep the better instability just to our south and west. As a result, the upstream complex of storms will ride the instability gradient and missing most of our forecast area. It may clip part of NW AL and into Cullman county with the main hazards being gusty winds and locally heavy rainfall. Most likely north of the TN river will just be showers and general thunderstorms. Trends will need to be monitored this morning to determine if severe storms do reach the TN Valley. && .SHORT TERM... (Saturday Night through Monday) Issued at 931 PM CDT Fri May 23 2025 A busy weather pattern will take shape this weekend into early next week as west-northwest flow shortwaves track east-southeast along a rather pronounced theta-E boundary from the central PLains into the southeast U.S. These will be fed by a large scale southwesterly low level jet in the southern Plains into the Ozarks and mid South region to our west. After a waning trend Saturday night, additional MCSs will be ongoing across KS into MO, spreading into western KY, TN and northern MS early Sunday afternoon. It is more likely that the surface warm front will lift northward into north AL or southern middle TN Sunday afternoon, placing our area at more risk of severe thunderstorms. Although southwesterly 8h winds diminish to 15-20kt, 5h winds will remain at 35-45kt, providing adequate shear with potential SBCAPE values of 2-3k J/kg. The primary hazards will be damaging winds and large hail. The surface boundary will still remain in the area, and depending on outflow boundaries, will likely result in at least scattered additional development Sunday Night into early Monday. There is only minor ridging at 5h indicated on Monday before the next shortwave and another probable MCS arrives. With weaker overall wind fields, the threat of widespread severe weather will go down some, but the threat of excessive rainfall may tend to go up. && .LONG TERM... (Monday night through Friday) Issued at 931 PM CDT Fri May 23 2025 Yet another trough axis arrives Tuesday, with widespread showers and thunderstorms, some with heavy rain expected. As an upper low or trough takes shape over the western Great Lakes into the northern Plains, westerly flow at 5h will be forced to persist across the southern U.S. This keeps a rather active parade of shortwaves and thunderstorm chances through the week. Temperatures will remain near or slightly below normals, with highs in the upper 70s to lower 80s and lows in the upper 50s to middle 60s. && .AVIATION... (12Z TAFS) Issued at 613 AM CDT Sat May 24 2025 Periodic chances for showers and thunderstorms during the morning and afternoon hours. At times visibilities and ceilings may lower down to MVFR with gusts to 25 knots possible within the stronger storms. Airport weather warnings are likely. A brief lull by this evening and overnight with a return to VFR conditions. && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...None. TN...None. && NEAR TERM...GH SHORT TERM....17 LONG TERM....17 AVIATION...GH
The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 58 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:11 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Guntersville Fire/Rescue personnel responded to an incident where a man was struck by lightning on a boat on Lake Guntersville near Honeyomb Cemetery. The victim had serious injuries and burns in several areas.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning, Marshall | 2025-05-24 | 55 | Male | Boating | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, May 2025
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: 1276947.