Scattered thunderstorms continue to develop in the vast sea of hot, humid air this afternoon and a few of them have become strong. A small, but strong, thunderstorm developed very rapidly near the Shelby/Jefferson County line earlier. Around 1:45, the winds in Hoover were gusting at least 45 mph for about 5 minutes along with torrential rain. J. P. Spann said he saw big umbrellas and other small debris blowing down Highway 31. It only lasted a couple of minutes and with very little thunder. He thought it was probably a downburst.
James Spann reported that for about 3-4 minutes, it was raining so hard that he could not see past the parking lot. The wind was so strong that it was literally blowing trees sideways and stuff was blowing everywhere. James also reported several trees down on Lorna Road in Hoover.
Around 2:30, a strong thunderstorm was on the west side of Birmingham north of Ensley and moving NE at 5 mph. It may produce strong winds and frequent lightning. That is the nature of the thunderstorms this afternoon. That particular storm will pass mostly on the west side of the immediate Birmingham area.
Other scattered storms were mainly across the northern third of the state from Marion County eastward to Blount, Etowah and DeKalb Counties. More widely separated storms were over Shelby and Talladega Counties. Everything seems to be moving north.
