A very moist and unstable airmass funneled out of the Gulf of Mexico and affected areas from Texas to Missouri to the Carolinas. The turning of the air flow with height, which is referred to as wind shear, was high enough for tornado development. A few strong short wave troughs were rotating around a large upper closed low and these features provided large scale lift to the area. The combination of the above factors set the stage for a tornado outbreak. The magnitude of the wind shear and moderate instability was enough for the Storm Prediction Center to advertise a High Risk of severe thunderstorms, including strong, long-lived tornadoes. Large hail, damaging winds, locally heavy rain and tornadoes formed and effected much of the southern United States April 23rd through April 25th.
Multiple supercell thunderstorms developed and tracked northeastward across Central Alabama. These storms began Saturday morning and continued through Saturday evening. Initially, eastern sections of the area received overnight and early morning rainfall which limited the instability. The severe potential slowly pushed eastward during the late afternoon and evening hours. Numerous damage reports were received throughout the event.
The potential weather threat was first introduced into the Hazardous Weather Outlook on April 18, 2010.
Tornado Watch #93 was valid from 800am CDT until 200 pm CDT.
Tornado Watch #96 was valid from 120pm CDT until 900 pm CDT.
Tornado Watch #99 was valid from 715pm CDT until 200 am CDT.
Tornado Watch #101 was valid from 1045pm CDT until 600am CDT.
The survey information contained below is deemed preliminary. Additional evaluation is necessary and the information is subject to change.
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