Thunderstorm Wind — Tallapoosa, Alabama

2024-08-29 · near Bevelle, Tallapoosa, Alabama

Event narrative

Numerous trees were downed and several buildings were damaged by a microburst in Alexander City. The Alexander City campus of Central Alabama Community College sustained damage. A sporting goods store along Highway 280 and an antique store along Calhoun St both sustained major roof and structural damage. A few homes were damaged, at least one heavily, by falling trees. The nearby Russell Field Airport registered a gust of 50 mph at 6:35 PM CDT.

Wider weather episode

As a ridge of high pressure that had been centered over the central Mississippi River Valley shifted eastward toward the Southeast U.S. coastline, southerly to southeasterly flow brought sufficient moisture advection to spark the return of scattered thunderstorms across Central Alabama by August 28. High DCAPE values, in some instances over 1200-1300 J/kg, aided in downburst activity for several consecutive afternoons. Most impacted were the cities of Mountain Brook and Alexander City, both on August 29, where scattered to widespread tree and power line damage occurred. Several homes and a couple businesses sustained heavy damage in Alexander City as well.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.9101, -85.9402)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1199219. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.