Tuesday, March 4, 2025

Special Weather Statement


This is one of those cases where the winds are just under criteria for a severe thunderstorm warning.  

7:12 PM - Just saw that James Spann is doing a live stream. 

Looks like Wes Wyatt is too. 

The lady helping him, I've never seen before, but I like her style. They'll say her name eventually . . . 

7:19 - Tonia Michele . . . apparently she's been with them three years. I don't have TV channels so am not a regular viewer. At my great-grandma's house we knew all the weather people from every channel. But that was a long time ago. Anyway I like Tonia's style, pretty upbeat but not constantly plugging the station, just talking about the weather and being conversational. And not ditzy. I'm not always impressed with the broadcasters compared to the government workers in meteorology . . . nevermind, I'm just a grouch. 


7:27 - Man, this is still a lot of power outages from this event even if it's not as much as the mid-February one. I think I agree with them (Wes and Tonia) saying this reminds you of an inland tropical system in some ways. 

7:46 - We do have a severe thunderstorm warning down in Tuscaloosa County. But everywhere else along this line, looks like the National Weather Service is going to blanket it with Special Weather Statements like this. Because the winds are strong and could even do minor damage, mainly to trees and power lines. But for a storm to be severe, the winds have to be at least 58 miles per hour, which is the same as 50 knots. 

7:57 - We're seeing wind gusts over 50 mph even ahead of the main line, like I noticed in Marshall County near Union Grove. And Williamson County, well up into Tennessee, saw a report of something near Franklin but also just widespread trees down and power outages through the county. 

So just be aware of what's going on. It's not like a tornado threat where you can pinpoint one spot gets a terrible storm. Most of the damage today is from gradient winds that may or may not accompany a specific shower or storm. 

8:14 PM - Now got a SWS that includes Cullman and Huntsville. 

Or excuse me, Madison, not to Huntsville yet. Does include Decatur, Athens, and Moulton. And basically all of Cullman County. 


We do have a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for parts of Walker County now too, for places like Cordova, Sumiton, and Gorgas. Most of this warning is focused on Jefferson County though, from Warrior through West Birmingham all the way down to Bessemer. 

8:19 - And here's an updated radar view. 

Strong winds may continue behind this squall line. The pressure gradient winds are unusually strong with this system. We get this every once in a while, not all that often. I remember a pretty bad gradient wind event in 2009 for sure, and it seems like a few years ago we had a similar one. 


8:22 - And once again, well said by the National Weather Service. 

8:25 - And the Storm Prediction Center definitely notices what a robust little squall line this is despite the lack of unstable air. 

Special Weather Statement

National Weather Service Birmingham AL

702 PM CST Tue Mar 4 2025


ALZ011>015-022-023-031-050130-

Greene AL-Fayette AL-Walker AL-Winston AL-Pickens AL-Tuscaloosa AL-

Marion AL-Lamar AL-

702 PM CST Tue Mar 4 2025


...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL IMPACT WESTERN WALKER...TUSCALOOSA...

MARION...EASTERN PICKENS...NORTHERN GREENE...WINSTON...FAYETTE AND

EASTERN LAMAR COUNTIES THROUGH 730 PM CST...


At 702 PM CST, Doppler radar was tracking strong thunderstorms along

a line extending from near Weston to near Kennedy to near Aliceville.

Movement was northeast at 45 mph.


HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 50 mph.


SOURCE...Radar indicated.


IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around

         unsecured objects.


Locations impacted include...

Cody, Lake Tuscaloosa, Carrollton, Englewood, Camp McDowell, Ralph,

Northport, Wayside, Clear Creek, Samantha, Lynn, Ashbank, Rankin Fite

Airport, Fayette, Pebble, Bull Branch, McFarland Mall, Coon Creek,

Kirk, and Pleasant Ridge.


PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...


If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.


A Tornado Watch remains in effect until 100 AM CST for west central

Alabama.


&&


LAT...LON 3430 8733 3399 8720 3349 8731 3349 8733

      3347 8734 3345 8732 3302 8742 3301 8771

      3300 8771 3296 8815 3361 8805 3431 8801

TIME...MOT...LOC 0102Z 231DEG 39KT 3422 8801 3364 8801 3306 8810


MAX HAIL SIZE...0.00 IN

MAX WIND GUST...50 MPH


$$


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