Regional Outbreaks of Severe Weather Through Early Next Week; Early Season Heat Wave across the South

Active spring pattern across the center of our nation with several episodes of severe weather and heavy rainfall expected into next week. The potential for very large hail, long track tornadoes, severe wind gusts, frequent cloud to ground lightning strikes and flash flooding are in the outlook. Furthermore, dangerous early season heat wave continues for the Gulf Coast states into early next week. Read More >

On May 17th, heavy rainfall with some strong and isolated severe storms occurred as a Mesoscale Convective Complex pushed from Mississippi into Northern Alabama and Southern Middle Tennessee. The area of showers and storms moved into northwestern Alabama around 10 AM and a few of the storms intensified as it tracked eastward through the early afternoon hours. The strongest storm of the day produced two tornadoes that briefly touched down, one in the Athens area and another near Elkmont.

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

Athens

EF-0

75 MPH

0 / 0