Thunderstorm Wind — Tuscaloosa, Alabama

2025-05-18 · near Samantha, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Event narrative

NWS Meteorologists surveyed extensive damage in Tuscaloosa County north of the city of Northport

and found damage consistent with high-end straight line winds. The communities of Clearwater

Estates, Four Winds, Vista Granda, east to Searles and Bull City were particularly hard hit.

The bulk of the damage likely occurred roughly between 550 AM CDT and 612 AM CDT.

The damage was very widespread from north to south starting west of U.S. Highway 43 extending

over to near Alabama Highway 59 in Bull City. The survey crew estimated a nearly solid 4-mile

swath north to south of extensive high end tree damage with embedded minor to moderate structural

damage. Extensive power line and infrastructure impacts were also observed. More sporadic damage

was observed up to 2 miles on either side of the primary swath of damage. The survey crew noted

a slightly more concentrated area of damage in the Tierce Patton Road area just south of where

a tornado tracked on 3/15 of this year. A large swath of trees was mowed down in this area and

some more notable structural damage was observed. The survey crew noted that all of the damage

was pointing generally in an east to east-northeast direction with limited debris lofting

or westward (upstream) facing debris. The extensive tree blowdown appeared to have been aided

by rain soaked and saturated soils, as a majority of the trees were uprooted.

Based on the widespread nature of the damage and the overall characteristics of the debris

observed, survey crews made the determination that straight-line winds likely caused the damage.

Maximum wind speeds based on the damage observed were estimated between 90 and 100 mph which matches

radar velocity estimates from KBMX radar.

Wider weather episode

A cluster of severe thunderstorms developed over south central Arkansas late on May 17 and moved east-southeastward into Central Alabama, arriving shortly after 5 AM CDT. A small MCS feature intensified quickly as it crossed the Mississippi state line into Pickens County. The system moved through Tuscaloosa County, just north of the city of Tuscaloosa, where up to 90 to 100 mph winds resulted in widespread wind damage and power outages. Simultaneously, several severe thunderstorms began forming around and just southeast of the Birmingham metro area, with half dollar-size hail and wind damage across parts of Jefferson, Shelby, and Talladega counties. More wind damage was associated with the main MCS as it moved through Talladega, Clay, Tallapoosa, and Randolph counties before 7:45 AM CDT. Heavy rainfall over the southern Birmingham metro resulted in some flooding issues as well. Additionally, a storm that afternoon in Chilton County produced nickel-size hail in the Lomax area.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.3600, -87.6000)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1253830. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.