National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Locally Heavy Rainfall for the Carolinas; Thunderstorms and Fire Weather Concerns for Intermountain West

Heavy rainfall from scattered thunderstorms is expected across the Southwest, Intermountain West, and Plains. Isolated dry thunderstorms may initiate additional fires across the west. The coastal Carolinas may experience flash floods in the coming days due to repeated thunderstorms. Additionally, a wave of intense summer heat will hit the Southern Plains and central Gulf Coast States this week. Read More >

Additional Information About Storm Reports Received Can Be Viewed Here.


Tornado Surveys Completed 
(Click on an entry in the 1st column to see an official storm survey summary and under the last column for more detailed

tornado track location/data)


 

 Detailed Summary
Link
EF Scale/Max Wind Speed (mph) 

Injuries/
Fatalities

Path Length (Miles)

Path Width (Yards) 

Starting Lat/.Long

Ending Lat/.Long

Track Images/Files

EF-1

90 MPH 

0/0

 6.6

300

 34.6146/ -86.6387

 34.6651/ -86.5405

KMZ - Points 

EF-1

105 MPH

0/0

 1.33 

75

 34.7017/ -86.5049

 34.7148/ -86.4876

KMZ - Points 

 

Summary:

On April 11th, a line of heavy showers and scattered thunderstorms extended just ahead of a cold front at 10 am (see below, left).  As the late morning and early afternoon hours progressed, breaks in cloud cover increased instability as the cold front pushed east into northwestern Alabama. This line quickly intensified shortly after 2 pm, as it moved into north central and eastern portions of Alabama.  Scattered severe thunderstorms occurred along the line between 2 pm and 7 pm, creating straight line wind damage,small hail, and two weak tornadoes in the Huntsville area.  The image below on the right shows the Day 1 Severe Weather Outlook from the Storm Prediction Center, which was issued at 8 am on April the 11th. Overlayed are severe weather reports which were received on the 11th. Click on either image below to see a more detailed and larger image. 

 

Surface Analysis at 10 AM on 04/11/2013 Storm Prediction Center Day 1 Outlook (8 AM) 

 

 

The slow movement of this line also produced some heavier rainfall.  Below is a image of rainfall totals from 7 am on Thursday (April 11th) through 7 am Friday (April 12th). Most of the heavier rainfall fell in a short 2 to 4 hour period.