July 5, 2012 Storm Survey

       On July 5th, 2012 a disturbance pushed southwest from Kentucky into northeastern Tennessee and later into northern Alabama and Southern Middle Tennessee during the afternoon and evening hours.  Abundant sunshine allowed temperatures to climb into the upper 90s to just over 100 degrees in a few locations, especially in northwestern Alabama.  This disturbance and its associated gust front led to the development of scattered strong to severe thunderstorms Thursday afternoon and evening. On this day, parameters were in place for extremely strong microburst/macroburst winds.  This allowed one storm in particular that affected the Moulton area to produce winds up to 115 mph and extensive damage.  Below is a map of the severe weather reports that occurred.

      Click here to see more details about the severe weather reports received.

Moulton Macroburst Information
Damage at the Moulton High School	Damage to a shirt store on Court Street
Damage at the Lawrence County Exchange	Aerial Damage at Lawrence County Exchange

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
306 PM CDT FRI JUL 6 2012

...PRELIMINARY STORM SURVEY INFORMATION FROM LAWRENCE COUNTY...

A PRELIMINARY STORM SURVEY OF THE DAMAGE INCURRED ACROSS LAWRENCE
COUNTY HAS BEEN COMPLETED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND LOCAL
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL. INITIAL FINDINGS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

* EVENT TYPE: MACROBURST
* EVENT DATE: 07/05/12
* EVENT TIME: 932 PM CDT TO 945 PM CDT

* ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 115.0 MPH (SEE BASIS AT END OF SUMMARY)

* SUMMARY: A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCE A SWATH OF WIND DAMAGE
  ACROSS MOULTON ON THURSDAY EVENING IN THE FORM OF A MACROBURST OR
  LARGE SCALE MICROBURST. THE OVERALL DAMAGE AREA STRETCHED
  APPROXIMATELY 4 MILES FROM WEST TO EAST AND 3.3 MILES FROM NORTH TO
  SOUTH COVERING THE CITY PROPER. THE MAJORITY OF DAMAGE WAS
  IDENTIFIED AS SNAPPED SOFTWOOD AND HARDWOOD TREES ALONG WITH DAMAGE
  TO POWER LINES. MANY TREES WERE NOTED DOWN ON HOMES AND BUSINESSES
  ACROSS THE CITY. SEVERAL BUSINESSES HAD WINDOWS PARTIALLY BROKEN
  OUT. MUCH OF THIS DAMAGE WAS DEEMED TO BE DUE TO WINDS BETWEEN 70
  AND 80 MPH.

  HOWEVER...AN AERIAL SURVEY OF THE DAMAGE AND SUBSEQUENT FOLLOWUP
  GROUND SURVEY FOUND POCKETS OF MORE INTENSE DAMAGE. SPECIFICALLY AN
  AREA ALONG HIGHWAY 157 JUST NORTH OF HIGHWAY 24 RECEIVED HEAVY
  DAMAGE. THE LAWRENCE COUNTY EXCHANGE BUILDING RECEIVED SIGNIFICANT
  ROOF DAMAGE AND THE SURROUNDING GROUNDS HAD DAMAGE TO FENCING AND
  LARGE ITEMS PICKED UP AND THROWN SOME DISTANCE. THE ADJACENT
  BUILDING AND FARM EQUIPMENT WERE COMPLETELY FLATTENED. ACROSS THE
  STREET...THE LAWRENCE FUNERAL HOME HAD ITS ROOF PARTIALLY RIPPED
  OFF WITH SIGNIFICANT INTERIOR DAMAGE.

  IN TOWN...THE SHIRT FACTORY BUILDING (A FREE STANDING CONCRETE
  BUILDING) ALONG COURT STREET HAD THE ROOF COMPLETELY RIPPED OFF
  ALONG WITH PARTIAL WALL COLLAPSE. SEVERAL POWER POLES WERE SNAPPED
  NEAR THE BASE IN THIS AREA. THE STOREFRONT ACROSS THE STREET HAD
  ITS WINDOWS COMPLETELY BLOWN OUT. FURTHER WEST ALONG COURT
  STREET...A GAS STATION SUSTAINED ROOF DAMAGE AND ANOTHER BUILDING
  HAD ITS GARAGE DESTROYED.

  THE HIGH SCHOOL ALSO SUSTAINED SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE WITH THE
  GYMNASIUM ROOF COVERING BEING COMPLETELY REMOVED AND OTHER PORTIONS
  OF THE SCHOOL HAVING THE WINDOWS BLOWN OUT. SIGNIFICANT WATER
  DAMAGE WAS NOTED INSIDE OF THE MAIN CLASSROOMS OF THE SCHOOL.

  NOTE: THE FINAL MAXIMUM WIND RATING WAS BASED ON A COMBINATION OF
  THE DAMAGE TO POWER POLES AND DAMAGE TO FREE STANDING STRUCTURES IN
  THREE SEPARATE LOCATIONS ACROSS THE CITY.

THESE FINDINGS ARE PRELIMINARY AND ARE SUBJECT TO ADJUSTMENT.
PICTURES AND SUMMARY MATERIALS WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB PAGE
AT WEATHER.GOV/HUNTSVILLE /ALL LOWER CASE/.

SURVEYED BY: DARDEN