Thunderstorm Wind — Jefferson, Alabama

2001-02-16 · near Countywide, Jefferson, Alabama

Event narrative

Jefferson County reported numerous trees and power lines down. One woman was killed in Ensley when a large tree smashed her car. One person was injured when a tree fell onto an automobile traveling down Mountain Brook Parkway. One person was injured when an 18-wheel truck was blown over on Interstate 65. Two people sustained minor injuries when a tree fell on a doctor's office building. Wind gust of 68 mph were reported at the Birmingham International Airport. Wind gusts of 99 mph were measured at the grandstand level of Legion Field. Wind gusts of 80 mph or more occurred on Red Mountain. Area officials estimated that a very large percentage of county roads were temporarily closed due to downed trees. Many more trees fell on automobiles, homes, and businesses causing major damage. Legion Field sustained damage to the large video screen used for replays at the professional football games. Two private aircraft at the Birmingham International Airport were damaged. The roof was torn off a portion of Riley Elementary School in southwest Birmingham. The storms also sheared roofs off buildings and broke several windows. Hail up to the size of golf balls was also reported with these storms.

Wider weather episode

A large bow echo or derecho, a long-lived and widespread convective wind storm, swept across much of the northern two thirds of Alabama. The wind storm moved into western Alabama around 141 PM and exited the eastern counties around 438 PM. Wind gusts were estimated between 60 and 105 miles an hour during the event and these gusts produced extensive wind damage throughout the entire area, similar to F0 and F1 tornado damage. The American Red Cross estimated that at least 2500 homes were damaged and some destroyed. Major electrical transmission lines were down in Tuscaloosa and Fayette Counties. Alabama Power estimated that at least 400,000 homes and businesses were initially without power, which is one third of their total customers. According to Alabama Power, this event ranked as the third highest ever for power outages in the state of Alabama.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.5667, -87.8833)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5234271. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.