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Database/Severe Weather Climatology » Tornado Climatology |
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| Tornado Climatology for Huntsville Forecast Area.
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| 1959 - April 2009 |
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Severe thunderstorms can bring with them many dangerous and costly
impacts. Tornadoes can be the most deadly and destructive product of a severe thunderstorm
. These powerful entities can reach wind speeds of at least 158 to over 200
mph in stronger tornadoes (EF-3 to EF-4 tornadoes).
The monthly distribution of tornadoes is depicted above. The August maximum of Huntsville Forecast area tornado occurrences observed in Figure above is heavily biased by the Hurricane
Danny outbreak on 08/16/1985, which produced 13 tornadoes. Thus the long term monthly climatology for tornadoes in Huntsville Forecast area is characterized
by two periods of peak tornado activity: the spring months of March, April,and May, and the fall
month of November. During these months, atmospheric conditions are favorable for tornado formation
and development. These two periods are separated by an extended lull in activity from June through
October. The exceptions during this quiet period are usually due to hurricane activity,
as with Danny in August of 1985.
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The
hourly distribution of tornadoes, in Central Standard Time, is depicted above. Most
tornadoes in the Huntsville Forecast Area occurred between
noon (1200) and Midnight (0000). The two most notable
peak periods of activity occur in the early afternoon and
evening hours. The highest level of activity is between 4
PM (1600) and 7 PM (1900). A second peak in
activity is seen between Noon (1200) and 3:00 PM (1500).
The most tornadoes during any single hour in the CWA
occur between 5 PM (1700) and 6 PM (1800). A much smaller peak
in activity occurs between 8 AM (0800) and noon (1200). Although
much fewer tornadoes occur after midnight through 7:59 AM (0759),
violent tornadoes (EF-3 to EF-5) can occur during this period,
as was seen in February of 2008, when two EF-4 tornadoes struck
northern Alabama.
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The
yearly distribution of tornadoes is depicted above. No well-defined pattern is noted when analyzing Figure 5, although a broad cyclic maximum of
tornadoes occurs about every 10 to 15 years. Also, several years of peak tornadic activity of
10 or more tornadoes are evident. An active year for tornadic activity occurred in 1985
, when 17 tornadoes were verified in the Huntsville CWA. This included several F2 and a few F3 tornadoes. This outbreak was caused by the interaction of Hurricane Danny with a
frontal boundary over the southeast U.S. There are many other maximums including the infamous 1974 outbreak (most of these
tornadoes were due to the April 3, Super Outbreak).
In 2006, the most tornadoes occurred when 32 tornadoes were verified, primarily F0 to F1 tornadoes,
across the Huntsville WFO forecast area. 2008 was also a very active compared to the period between 1986 and 1996, with 26 tornadoes
, of which two were EF-4's and three were EF-2's. This is second only to the number
of tornadoes seen in 2006. Through April of 2009, the busy trend with tornado activity has continued with
17 tornadoes confirmed so far. One of which was a devastating EF-3 tornado which affected
Marshall, Jackson, and Deklab counties on April 10th, 2009 at 2:02 pm Central Standard Time (CST).
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| Special Thanks to the following people for use of the photographs on top of page:
Dave Crowley at www.stormguy.com - Gust Front Picture, Warren Faidley at www.Weatherstock.com - Lightning Picture, and Sam Todd - Limestone Tornado Picture. |
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