Tornado threat continues for at least another 2 or 3 hours. Watch out Jasper and Cullman for big storm now entering Walker County. Other storms moving in from MS. Storms may be organizing in parts of southern Tuscaloosa and Jefferson … Continue reading →

Some low-level cooling being offset by upper-level cooling. Air still humid. Plenty of instability to maintain storms into central Alabama. CAPE near 1000 J/kg in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. 0-1 km storm-relative helicity (causes storm rotation) still 300-400 m2/s2, only 150 … Continue reading →

Tornado Warning for SE Marion, NW Fayette, NE Lamar until 245 am. Storm approaching Guin, Winfield. Tornado Warning for Pickens until 245. Storm approaching Carrollton and Reform. Both storms have very large rotational velocities, and Lamar/Marion/Fayette storm shows very nasty … Continue reading →

Brian and I made it back from Hamilton. What a long day for the people in Tennessee. And we now have weather to deal with, too. I need to borrow some coffee from JB. This event is not over. Tornado … Continue reading →

**One of the worst tornado outbreaks in the southeast since April 1998 in progress.** 5 pm sounding at Birmingham still shows cap in place, which has, in combination with the lack of boundaries to focus any convection, apparently suppressed thunderstorms … Continue reading →

Numerous reports of tornadoes in northwest MS and in Memphis. WREG-TV showed an apparent tornado on the ground live near I-240 in Memphis. Tornado damage also near Pleasant Ridge and Pleasant Grove, SW of Germantown. Reports of NWS employees in … Continue reading →

Brian and I are at Stratus station (Hamilton, AL) in the storm chaser, probably inspiring excitement or fear along Corridor X/US 78 between BHM and Hamilton. I like the yellow lights! The development of scattered showers between 1 and 2 … Continue reading →

At least two small storms have broken the cap. Storm tops to near 15,000 feet. One is located south of Centreville, another near Tuscaloosa. Could this be the beginning of more widespread development of strong storms over western Alabama and … Continue reading →

The sun is out over parts of central Alabama. Temperatures have risen rather quickly. As of 11 am, BHM 72 TCL 76 NWS 71. As mentioned earlier, the warm cap above 800 mb is keeping any storms from getting going … Continue reading →

Morning balloon data (soundings) from Birmingham and Jackson show strong cap in place. Basically, when a parcel of air tries to rise from the surface, it cools, and keeps going as long as it is warmer than its environment. But, … Continue reading →