Alabama 811 | Know What's Below.

An April To Remember

| May 9, 2011 @ 10:22 pm | 1 Reply

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PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT…CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
835 PM CDT MON MAY 9 2011

…APRIL SEVERE WEATHER EVENTS SET NEW RECORDS FOR THE STATE…

THE RECENT SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAKS ACROSS THE SOUTH RAVAGED MUCH OF
THE STATE OF ALABAMA AND IMPACTED MANY OF ITS CITIZENS. SOME
LOCATIONS WERE IMPACTED MORE THAN ONCE THROUGHOUT THE MONTH…AND
SOME WERE HIT TWICE IN THE SAME DAY. THE TORNADO OUTBREAKS OF APRIL
15TH AND APRIL 27TH LEAD TO DOZENS UPON DOZENS OF CONFIRMED
TORNADOES. THE APRIL 27TH EVENT WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS ONE OF
THE MOST DEADLY SYSTEMS TO EVER AFFECT THE AREA. NOT ONLY WERE THERE
MORE THAN 40 TORNADOES THAT TOUCHED DOWN IN ALABAMA THAT DAY…BUT
THE SHEAR MAGNITUDE AND INTENSITY OF THE TORNADOES IS WHAT MAKES IT
SO HISTORIC.

SEVERAL TORNADO CLIMATOLOGY RECORDS HAVE ALREADY BEEN EXCEEDED THIS
YEAR…AND WE HAVEN’T EVEN REACHED THE END OF SPRING SEVERE WEATHER
SEASON YET. WHO KNOWS WHAT THE REST OF THE YEAR HAS IN STORE FOR
US…BUT LET’S HOPE THAT IT IS MUCH KINDER THAN THE FIRST FOUR
MONTHS HAVE TURNED OUT TO BE.

BELOW IS A COMPILATION OF SOME TORNADO STATS AND RECORDS FOR ALABAMA:

—————

TORNADO CLIMATOLOGY FOR ALABAMA:

TORNADO STATISTIC # OF TORNADOES

30 YEAR AVERAGE (1981-2010) 37
APRIL 2011 89
YEAR TO DATE 98
YEARLY RECORD 98 IN 2011, PREVIOUS 94 IN 2008

THERE WERE MORE F4 TORNADOES IN 2011 THAN 2000-2010 COMBINED.
THIS YEAR NOW HOLDS THE RECORD FOR MOST F4 AND F5 TORNADOES IN A
SINGLE YEAR.

*IMPORTANT NOTE: THE TOTAL NUMBER OF TORNADOES FOR 2011 IS STILL
CONSIDERED PRELIMINARY AS STORM SURVEYS ARE STILL ONGOING IN SOME
PARTS OF THE STATE. THEREFORE…THE TOTAL FOR 2011 COULD BE ADJUSTED
UPWARD.

—————

GREATEST NUMBER OF TORNADOES IN ALABAMA (SINGLE EVENT):

RANK # OF TORNADOES DATE(S)

1 47 APRIL 27, 2011*
2 41 APRIL 15, 2011*
3 36 NOVEMBER 15, 2001
4 24 APRIL 8, 2006
5 23 SEPTEMBER 25, 2005
6(T) 21 AUGUST 16, 1985
6(T) 21 SEPTEMBER 28, 1998
8 20 MAY 7, 2003
9(T) 18 MAY 3, 1984
9(T) 18 APRIL 19, 2009

*NUMBER OF TORNADOES IS PRELIMINARY.

—————

ALABAMA F4/EF4 AND F5/EF5 TORNADOES*:

TIME PERIOD F4 OR EF4 F5 OR EF5

SINCE 1874 64 6
SINCE 1950 32 6
APRIL 27, 2011 7 7

*BASED ON MAXIMUM EF RATING ALONG THE ENTIRE TRACK.

—————

LIST OF ALABAMA F5/EF5 TORNADOES:

APRIL 3, 1974 – MOULTON (LAWRENCE, LIMESTONE, MORGAN, MADISON
COUNTIES)
APRIL 3, 1974 – GUIN (LAMAR, MARION, WINSTON, LAWRENCE, MORGAN
COUNTIES)
APRIL 4, 1977 – SMITHVILLE (JEFFERSON COUNTY)
APRIL 8, 1998 – OAK GROVE (TUSCALOOSA, JEFFERSON COUNTIES)
APRIL 27, 2011 – SMITHVILLE, MS – SHOTTSVILLE, AL (MARION, FRANKLIN
COUNTIES)
APRIL 27, 2011 – HACKLEBURG (MARION, FRANKLIN, LAWRENCE, MORGAN,
LIMESTONE, MADISON COUNTIES)

—————

DEADLIEST US TORNADO OUTBREAKS:

RANK DATE(S) OUTBREAK NAME FATALITIES

1 3/18/1925 TRI-STATE TORNADO OUTBREAK 747+
2 4/4-5/1936 TUPELO-GAINSVILLE TORNADO OUTBREAK* 454
3 3/28/1920 PALM SUNDAY 1920 OUTBREAK* 380+
4 4/25-28/2011 SOUTHERN STATES OUTBREAK SEQUENCE* 339
5 3/21-22/1932 DEEP SOUTH OUTBREAK* 330+
6 4/23-25/1908 DIXIE OUTBREAK* 324
7 4/1-4/1974 SUPER OUTBREAK SEQUENCE* 319
8 5/27-28/1896 ST LOUIS/EAST ST LOUIS OUTBREAK 305
9 4/11-12/1965 PALM SUNDAY OUTBREAK 1965 256
10 6/7-9/1952 FLINT-WORCESTER OUTBREAK SEQUENCE 247

*INDICATES OUTBREAK AFFECTED ALABAMA.
NOTE: TORNADO FATALITY NUMBERS FOR 2011 ARE STILL PRELIMINARY.

—————

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE MOST RECENT SEVERE WEATHER AND
TORNADO OUTBREAKS IN ALABAMA…PLEASE VISIT THE ALABAMA NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE OFFICES WEBSITES AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV…AND THEN CLICK
ON NORTH (HUN)…CENTRAL (BMX)…SOUTHWEST (MOB)…OR SOUTHEAST
(TAE) ALABAMA.

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Category: Met 101/Weather History

About the Author ()

James Spann is one of the most recognized and trusted television meteorologists in the industry. He holds the AMS CCM designation and television seals from the AMS and NWA. He is a past winner of the Broadcast Meteorologist of the Year from both professional organizations.

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