Thunderstorm Wind — Mobile, Alabama

2007-07-03 · near Mobile, Mobile, Alabama

Event narrative

Eye witness interviews, archived radar data, photographic evidence and media reports indicate that a thunderstorm downburst with peak winds of 70 mph, accompanied by a gustnado along the leading edge of the gustfront, was the cause of the damage that occurred in the vicinity of the I-65 and Dauphin Street interchange at around 120 pm CST on the afternoon of July 3.

A short lived gustnado developed along the leading edge of the thunderstorm downburst near the Dauphin Way Baptist Church, just on the west side of I-65. Most reports indicate that the gustnado was visible along the gustfront for 30 to 60 seconds. Slight damage occurred to a couple of trees along Dauphin Street near the church. In that same area a car was damaged when it was pushed into a tree. The occupant of the car was wearing a seat belt and was uninjured, but the back window of the car was shattered and some body damage to the vehicle occurred. In addition, an approximate 5 by 8 foot section of shingles was torn away from the roof of the Dauphin Way Baptist Church, resulting in water damage to the church's interior.

The gustfront and accompanying gustnado then quickly moved east across I-65. A National Weather Service interview with a motorists driving on the I-65 southbound on-ramp indicates that the strong crosswinds hit the vehicle just as it was merging onto the southbound lane of the interstate. The driver reported that his vehicle was spun around twice, ending up facing north in the southbound lanes of I-65. Luckily no oncoming traffic was in the vicinity at the time, and the motorist was not injured and only minimal damage occurred to the vehicle. The driver reported that it was not raining before the gustfront hit, but did rain very heavily just after the event, which is classic evidence of a typical thunderstorm downburst.

The more significant damage associated with the event then occurred just east of I-65 at the Super Wal-Mart on the I-65 service road. Eyewitness reports and a National Weather Service storm survey indicate that the thunderstorm downburst, still accompanied by the gustnado, reached its peak intensity near the Wal-Mart store. Several sections of roofing material near the back of the store were torn away after high winds, estimated by public reports, observed damage and radar data to have been around 70 mph, blew a large air conditioning unit off the roof. These strong winds were then funneled off the roof of the store and downward into the rear parking lot, where a minivan with several passengers was nearly overturned and sustained window damage, most likely due to flying debris. Five people in the van suffered minor injuries. As a result of the wind damage to sections of the stores roof, significant water damage then occurred to much of the interior of the store. Some minor wind damage was also noted at the garden section of the store, where light weight roofing materials and numerous other small objects were blown 50 to 100 yards downwind from the store. A large tarp that was hung along a fence was also blown down. The 70 mph estimate is supported by the observed nature of the damage in a localized area and the near complete lack of any other damage in the vicinity. Three people in Wal-Mart were injured. One of the persons who was injured later died from an Aneurysm, but it is unknown if this was a result of the injury.

No other significant damage was reported anywhere in Mobile county.

Wider weather episode

A short lived gustnado developed along the leading edge of a thunderstorm downburst near the Dauphin Way Baptist Church. The church sustained roof damage...resulting in water damage to the church's interior. The more significant damage with the event occurred east of Interstate 65 at the Super Wal-Mart on the Interstate 65 Service Road.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (30.7000, -88.0800)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 51480. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.