Thunderstorm Wind in Blount County, Alabama

National Weather Service Birmingham meteorologists surveyed storm damage in and near the Locust Fork area of Blount County on Saturday, September 14. The survey team found a broad area impacted by damaging winds generally across portions of Blount County west of Locust Fork. Damage surveyors found widespread small tree limb damage with a few large tree limbs down and a couple of uprooted trees sporadically through the wind damage area. There was no signature of convergence or divergence observed in the wind damage pattern, indicative of straight line winds. The majority of the area appeared to experience damaging winds from 40-50 mph with a pocket of higher winds from 50-60 mph. Much of the structural damage observed in the area appeared to be the result of falling tree limbs or tree limbs falling onto power lines, although some smaller sheds were flipped or demolished.

Hurricane Francine made landfall along the Louisiana coast during the afternoon of September 11. Downgraded to a tropical depression as it moved northward through Mississippi the next day, Francine brought gradient wind gusts of 30-40 mph to Central Alabama. Numerous trees were downed across several counties, with some falling on power lines and across roadways. One minor injury occurred in Jefferson County when a tree fell onto a passing pickup truck.

The next couple days brought bands of heavy rainfall and gusty winds to the area as activity became increasing associated with a nearly stationary surface boundary. One storm in Blount County on the 13th produced hail over quarter-size, with another storm shortly after causing an area of tree and minor structural damage near Locust Fork. Heavy rainfall caused flooding issues in Birmingham the morning of the 14th, in Eufaula around midday on the 14th, and in Birmingham again just after midnight on the 15th.