Severe Thunderstorms in the Northeast and Northern Plains; Critical Fire Weather in the West

Scattered severe thunderstorms capable of damaging wind gusts and hail are forecast across the Northeast U.S. and North Dakota today. Heavy to excessive rainfall is possible over eastern New Mexico into western Texas and over the western Florida peninsula today. Critical fire weather conditions will persist today over parts of the interior Northwest and Great Basin. 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