Looking Back on 4/27...

I can't believe it's been 2 years since the fateful day of April 27, 2011. Really the entire month of April was very active weather-wise, as it seemed we were under a tornado watch about every third or fourth day. But something about 4/27/11 was different...

The day began with a very intense QLCS (quasi-linear convective complex) plowing through Mississippi into Alabama during the predawn hours of 4/27. While widespread wind damage occurred, an EF-3 tornado was dropped in eastern Tuscaloosa County. Unfortunately, 5 people lost their lives from the morning round of storms that wound up leaving over 250,000 people in Alabama without power.

Unfortunately, some people thought that was the main round of storms and that they just came through several hours earlier than expected. That was not the case, however. I distinctly remember that by 8 AM in Tuscaloosa, the sun was shining brightly. This was the atmosphere "recharging" from the morning storms. Temperatures quickly soared through the 70s and got into the lower 80s by early afternoon.

The increased instability values led the SPC to issue this extremely rare 45% circle on the tornado probabilities, centered from Columbus over to Tuscaloosa/Birmingham to the Huntsville area. The stage was set for a massive tornado outbreak...

By 2 PM, the SPC had put most of west and north-central Alabama under a tornado watch, with the Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS) designation. The probabilities (tornadoes, hail, wind) in that watch were maxed out by SPC standards, meaning each category had a greater than 95% of occurring.

By 3 PM though, the first damaging tornado was already being captured on camera in Cullman, AL. But other storms were developing and quickly intensifying and organizing over east-central Mississippi as well. And they were moving very quickly to the northeast at 50+ mph.

By late afternoon, the parameters over west-central Alabama were seemingly off the chart. The significant tornado parameter (STP) was an astounding 12 units, when units of 1-3 are common with tornadoes and values of 4-6 associated with strong tornadoes. So with a  12, we knew that the chances of long-tracked, damaging tornadoes were extremely high.

A long-tracked supercell originated just south of Philadelphia, MS and moved quickly NE and was in downtown Tuscaloosa by 515 PM. The tornado crossed I-359 very near the 35th St bridge overpass. It moved northeast, causing catastrophic damage to the Forest Lake community before crossing McFarland Blvd near the 15th street intersection. It continued northeast crossing into Holt and Alberta City causing more catastrophic damage. The tornado continued northeast into western Jefferson County, bee-lining downtown Birmingham. All along the tornado's path, it caused extensive damage. While the tornado itself wasn't continuous, the parent supercell traveled over 300 miles from east-central MS to western North Carolina before dissipating.

The images I seen the night of and seeing it firsthand the next day is something I will never forget. I remember the sky being brilliant blue the day after, after being so vicious and black the day before.  Sitting in the middle of the intersection of 15th and McFarland, with damage visible in all directions was probably the most surreal of moments. But, the blue sky made for a very ironic scene but was a signal that we could and would recover.

God Bless..
IW