A strong thunderstorm knocked down a tree at a couple of locations in Lincoln County during the mid afternoon hours.
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.
A strong thunderstorm knocked down a tree at a couple of locations in Lincoln County during the mid afternoon hours.
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 20, 4:53 PM CST, 2 hours 7 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Huntsville AL 553 PM CDT Tue May 20 2025 ...New AVIATION... .NEAR TERM... (Rest of Today and Tonight) Issued at 1106 AM CDT Tue May 20 2025 Morning convection that developed just east of the Mississippi River has weakened somewhat as it pushed eastward and the initial LLJ jet lifted northward. Still, given the very moist environment and even a lower amount of uncapped instability, these storms should persist into the early afternoon across mainly southern middle Tennessee and locations near the AL/TN border in northern Alabama through 1-2 PM. Most of this activity will remain subsevere -- with gusty winds being the main threat with this activity Our attention will quickly turn to the mid/late afternoon, as a more robust threat for severe weather develops along and ahead of a cold front. The initial cloud cover from this morning convection will gradually dissipate by the early afternoon, with ample sunshine and southerly flow rapidly helping to destabilize the atmosphere. By mid/late afternoon, guidance is hinting at between 2000-3000 J/kg of SBCAPE/MLCAPE with bulk shear values increasing to 40-50 kts by the late afternoon and evening hours with a developing 850-700 mb jet. This feature will serve as a forcing mechanism to drive clusters of thunderstorms from the mid/late afternoon through the evening hours. The favored storm mode will be supercells and or line segments with embedded supercells that will impact the area from roughly a 4 PM to Midnight timeframe. An additional focus for convection as we destabilize this afternoon may be a few residual outflow boundaries set down by this morning convection. Should this activity develop during the mid afternoon, a prefrontal round of supercells may be realized across the area, followed by another line of storms (with embedded supercells) later this evening. The atmosphere should be primed for damaging winds (some 60-70+ MPH). Additionally, hodographs indicating sufficient low- level backing of the winds to result in some curvature in the lowest 0-1 km. By this afternoon, SRH values in the 150-250 m2/s2 may be realized in right-moving storms -- and even storms moving with the mean flow will more than sufficient SRH for a tornado threat (with a strong tornado or two possible if one or two supercells become dominant). This activity will wane after the front sweeps through late this evening, with most storms coming to an end by Midnight. && .SHORT TERM... (Wednesday through Friday) Issued at 1106 AM CDT Tue May 20 2025 A cooler and more stable air mass will advect into the Tennessee Valley behind the cold front, with dry conditions in the forecast for the remainder of the work week. In fact, temperatures will be downright enjoyable for late May into Memorial Day weekend as highs will remain in the mid 70s to lower 80s! With plenty of sunshine to enjoy, this will be an excellent timeframe for outdoor activities. && .LONG TERM... (Friday through Monday) Issued at 918 PM CDT Mon May 19 2025 A northwest flow pattern takes shape as we reach the end of the work week and move into the weekend. Moisture advection begins to increase this weekend, hence making the atmosphere more unstable and increasing the potential for showers and thunderstorms. As is typical with a northwest flow pattern this time of year, we will have to watch out for upstream MCS development. Depending on where those systems propagate will determine how active a pattern the Tennessee Valley will see. Hence, kept blended PoPs through the Memorial Day Weekend given this uncertainty. Overall, temperatures will be near climatological normals for this time of year with afternoon highs this weekend in the upper 70s to lower 80s. && .AVIATION... (00Z TAFS) Issued at 553 PM CDT Tue May 20 2025 Supercells have begun to move across the area with lightning, hail, wind, and tornadoes all possible. Over the next few hours, these storms are forecast to congeal into multi cells and increase in coverage as they continue to move east across the area. With these storms periods of MVFR conditions are possible with lower ceiling and visibilities should storms move directly over the terminals. The system is forecast to exit the area around midnight, behind it conditions will quickly clear with VFR conditions prevailing through the remainder of the TAF period. && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...None. TN...None. && NEAR TERM...AMP SHORT TERM....AMP LONG TERM....GH AVIATION...RAD
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Huntsville AL
515 PM CDT Tue May 20 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0512 PM Hail 2 E Underwood-Petersvil 34.87N 87.66W
05/20/2025 E1.50 Inch Lauderdale AL Public
Social media report of 1.5 inch hail at
Helton Dr in Florence AL.
&&
RADPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Huntsville AL
519 PM CDT Tue May 20 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0510 PM Hail 3 SW Killen 34.84N 87.57W
05/20/2025 M0.75 Inch Lauderdale AL Public
Report from mPING: Dime (0.75 in.).
&&Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Huntsville AL
521 PM CDT Tue May 20 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0500 PM Tstm Wnd Gst 2 SSW Florence 34.80N 87.68W
05/20/2025 M56 MPH Lauderdale AL Mesonet
56 MPH gust measured by the Florence
Mesonet.
&&
RADPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Huntsville AL
540 PM CDT Tue May 20 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0535 PM Hail 3 ESE Rogersville 34.81N 87.24W
05/20/2025 M1.75 Inch Lauderdale AL Emergency Mngr
EMA reported golf ball sized hail on HWY 72
at the Elk River.
&&
RADPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Huntsville AL
547 PM CDT Tue May 20 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0538 PM Hail 7 N Town Creek 34.77N 87.39W
05/20/2025 M2.75 Inch Lawrence AL Emergency Mngr
EMA reported baseball size hail in the Red
Bank area south of Wheeler Dam.
&&
KGPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Huntsville AL
650 PM CDT Tue May 20 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0648 PM Hail 4 N Madison 34.75N 86.75W
05/20/2025 E1.25 Inch Madison AL Trained Spotter
Spotter reported half dollar size hail at
the Lowes on Highway 73.
&&
KGThe Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 43 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:59 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A tree was knocked down and completely blocking the roadway at 367 Old Lincoln Road. Time estimated by radar.
A tree was knocked down onto a vehicle at 509 Polk Street. Time estimated by radar.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Tennessee in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Tennessee, 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: 1276910, 1276911.