Large Hail and Wind Event of March 31, 2012

Large Hail and Severe Weather of March 31, 2012

Event Summary for Central Alabama

On March 31, 2012, a strong upper level shortwave moved southward from the lower Ohio Valley interacting with unseasonably warm and unstable conditions across the southeast. At the surface, a cold front moving into the Tennessee Valley triggered numerous severe thunderstorms during the afternoon, and those storms moved southward into Central Alabama during the evening hours along a strong outflow boundary. Very cold air aloft (-17C at 500mb) and steep lapse rates led to the development of very large hail in any storm that developed. Large hail reports from golfball (1.75) to teacup size (3 inches) were reported with some of the storms, as they were allowed to be sustained for well over 2 hours due to very high instability amounts. The storms finally weakened during the late evening hours with the loss of daytime heating. The information below is the PRELIMINARY storm reports from the March 31st severe weather event.

Event Photos


                            Hail near Oneonta, AL                                                          Hail near Oneonta, AL
              Photo Submitted by Blount County EMA                                        Photo Submitted by Blount County EMA


                                      Large Hail in Altoona, AL                                                         Hail in Altoona, AL
                               Photo Submitted by Erin Crossley                                       Photo Submitted by Erin Crossley

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Severe Weather Episode Data

500 mb Analysis Mar 31 at 7 am	500 mb Analysis Mar 31 at 7 pm
Surface Analysis Mar 31 at 12 pm	Surface Analysis Mar 31 at 830 pm
Day 1 Severe Weather Outlook Issued Mar 31 at 8 am	Day 1 Severe Weather Outlook Issued Mar 31 at 8 pm
Storm Reports 03/31/12	Upper Air Sounding Mar 31 at 7 pm