Thunderstorm Wind — Jefferson, Alabama

2024-05-27 · near Kimbrel, Jefferson, Alabama

Event narrative

A line of severe thunderstorms with winds estimated at 60-70 mph moved through southern portions of Jefferson County, with widespread tree and power line damage. Some trees landed on homes. Several trees were downed in the McCalla area, including Stage Coach Rd, Victoria Dr, and Crestview Dr, as well as in Bessemer, where a tree fell across power lines along Parkwood Rd. In Hoover, numerous trees were downed, including along Old Montgomery Hwy, Riverchase Pkwy, Atwillher Dr, Terrace Hills Dr, Hugh Daniels Dr, and Stone Briar Ln. Many trees were downed across Homewood and Mountain Brook as well, including along Montevallo Rd. One large tree fell into an apartment building in Mountain Brook, resulting in a fatality.

Wider weather episode

A line of thunderstorms entered northern portions of Central Alabama after 4:30 AM CDT on May 27, producing scattered areas of wind damage and an embedded tornado in Cherokee County. Simultaneously, an area of intense thunderstorms moved northeastward from north of Meridian, Mississippi into the southern and eastern portions of the Birmingham metro area. This resulted in widespread tree and power line damage and occasional structure damage across northern Hale, southern Tuscaloosa, Bibb, Shelby, Jefferson, St. Clair, and Talladega counties. As the northern line progressed southeastward and later merged with the advancing thunderstorms moving east of Birmingham, a second tornado occurred over northern Randolph County at approximately 6:55 AM CDT. Additional activity occurred during the afternoon hours over the southeastern counties, with a few reports of nickel to quarter-size hail.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.2924, -87.1031)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1170362. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.