Severe Weather Awareness

Severe weather in the Tennessee Valley can happen during any time of year, but there are two distinct peaks: Spring and Fall. While March, April, and May contain the greatest number of severe weather instances, severe weather for our area peaks again in November. Take the time to prepare now! Click the images below to see which office covers your location, and have a plan ready for when severe weather happens in your area!

Image showing what offices cover what counties in Alabama. The National Weather Service office in Huntsville covers northern Alabama, including the counties of Lauderdale, Colbert, Franklin, Limestone, Lawrence, Madison, Morgan, Cullman, Jackson, and DeKalb. Central Alabama is covered by the NWS office in Birmingham, southwest Alabama is covered by the NWS office in Mobile, and southeast Alabama is covered by the NWS office in Tallahassee.

Image showing what offices cover what counties in Tennessee. The National Weather Service office in Huntsville covers three counties in southern middle Tenessee, including Lincoln, Moore, and Franklin counties. Western Tennessee is covered by the NWS office in Memphis, the rest of Middle Tennesse is covered by the NWS office in Nashville, and eastern Tennessee is covered by the NWS office in Morristown.

Safety & Preparedness

Don't wait until severe weather is happening to have a plan! Take the time to prepare NOW! Know the difference between a Watch and a Warning, and know what to when/if one is issued for your location! Always have more than one way to receive potentially life-saving weather information! Make sure you have fresh batteries in your NOAA Weather Radio, too! Have a plan in place, and know where to take shelter at home, work, church, or any other venue you frequent! Injuries and deaths due to severe weather can be prevented through proper safety and preparedness measures!

The following graphics cover important safety and preparedness information for all of the hazards that may occur in the fall.

An image talking about severe weather resiliency. This is the ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, recover from, and more successfully adapt to adverse events. This graphic shows ways we can be more resilient as communities, when severe weather strikes.

This image talks more about severe weather resiliency. It talks about tips to help minimize wind damage around your home prior to severe weather.

This image talks about the importance of being prepared for the event and planning concerns that one may consider before it arrives. It refreshes our memories concerning items you might need and questions to ask ourselves to prepare for severe weather

Severe weather awareness graphic describing what to include in your emergency kit. Make sure you include a first aid kit, a whistle to call for help, a flashlight and extra batteries, cash and a credit card, a battery powered radio or weather radio, a mobile phone charger ideally solar or battery powered, a three-day supply of water and non-perishable food for each family member including your pets, a change of clothes and shoes for each family member, and prescription medications and other special need items such as diapers, formula, etc. Make sure your emergency kit is ready to go!

This graphic talks about having multiple ways to receive weather alerts already in place before severe weather occurs. It stresses having multiple way to do this including: NOAA Weather Radios, television, internet, and other battery powered radios.

Severe weather awareness graphic describing wireless emergency alerts. Wireless emergency alerts are a free public mobile alerting service that targets your current location using radio-like technology to automatically send an alert to your phone if you are in a location within a warning. The alert is a 90-character text/sms alert sent directly to your cell phone. These alerts are sent for tsunami warnings, tornado warnings, extreme wind warnings, hurricane warnings, typhoon warnings, flash flood warnings, and dust storm warnings. Remember, though, always have more than one way to receive alerts.

Severe weather awareness graphic describing NOAA weather radio. NOAA weather radio broadcasts current weather conditions, forecasts, warnings, and a multitude of other products 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. We have six weather radio transmitters across northern Alabama and southern middle Tennessee, including transmitters in Florence, Huntsville, Cullman, Arab, and Fort Payne/Henagar in Alabama, and Winchester in Tennessee. When buying a weather radio, look for one with Specific Area Message Encoding, also called SAME. These radios can be set to alert for a specific county and wake you up when storms threaten at night.

Severe weather awareness graphic describing the difference between a watch and a warning. A watch means conditions are favorable for severe weather development within the next 4 to 6 hours. Remain alert! A warning means severe weather is imminent or ongoing. Take immediate action!

Severe weather awareness graphic describing how to take shelter for tornado safety. When taking shelter, remember: get in, get down, and cover up. Get in: if you are outside, find a sturdy shelter. Put as many walls between you and the outside as possible. Get down: go to the lowest floor of the building. If possible, use an underground shelter or basement. Cover up: get under a sturdy table or a stairwell. Cover up with blankets and pillows.

Severe weather awareness graphic describing flooding and flash flooding. Flash floods kill more people every year than any other natural disaster with the exception of heat. What is the difference between flooding and flash flooding? Flash flooding is a rapid rise and fall of water during heavy rainstorms or after a dam break. Flooding is a slower response, usually along rivers. Remember, just six inches of running water can move cars off roadways. Be extra cautious at night, when flooded roads can be hard to see until you are already in the water. Remember to turn around, don't drown.

Severe weather awareness graphic describing severe thunderstorms and damaging winds. What makes a thunderstorm severe? A severe thunderstorm produces hail of an inch in diameter or greater, winds of 58 miles per hour or greater, and/or a tornado. Each year in Alabama, damaging wind events occur 10 to 20 times more often than tornadoes. Straight line winds are damaging winds from thunderstorms which are not associated with rotation or a tornado. These winds can exceed 80 miles per hour, though, and produce large areas of damage.

Additional Information

NWS Huntsville Hazard Climatology Interactive story map showing the hazard climatology for each county within the Huntsville County Warning Area.
Tornado Safety in Schools Brochure (PDF) - Tips and suggestions for keeping students safe in the event of a tornado, including a poster you can fill out with local safety information.
Lightning | Brochure (PDF) - Information on the dangers of lightning, including facts and statistics specific to the Tennessee Valley.
Flash Floods and River Floods - While tornadoes are a big threat to the area, flash flooding kills more people per year than any other weather hazard. Find out more through this brochure.