• Welcome to TalkWeather!
    We see you lurking around TalkWeather! Take the extra step and join us today to view attachments, see less ads and maybe even join the discussion.
    CLICK TO JOIN TALKWEATHER
Logo 468x120

Discussion of April 27, 2011 Outbreak

Messages
2,754
Reaction score
4,292
Location
Madison, WI
I found an external hard drive I forgot I had buried at the back of my closet the other day, plugged it in, and lo and behold, it had my archived weather data folder from 2011 including my GR Level 3 screencaps on 4/27. Don't believe I've ever shared them here. It speaks to how monumental this outbreak was that even a random severe weather nerd living safely 700 miles from the impacted area remembers what he was doing that day 12 years later.

During that time I was an associate degree student for TV & Video Production at Milwaukee Area Technical College and the late April/early May period was very busy as it was crunch time for our end-of-year projects. I'd spent most of that day holed up in the student editing lab with limited ability to check the Internet for non-project-related topics. I knew there was a high risk out for parts of the South with some pretty volatile conditions expected, but I never dreamed that something rivaling or in some metrics exceeding the Super Outbreak of '74 was even possible in my lifetime, let alone that day.

I got home and fired up my computer right around the time the Tuscaloosa tornado was about to move into town, but I didn't know it until I launched GR Level 3, navigated to KBMX and my jaw promptly hit the floor. I'd never seen such a well-defined hook echo with debris ball like that outside of articles about 5/3/99, nor a velocity couplet like that since Greensburg, so I knew immediately that something catastrophic and historic was underway...and that was before I even knew about Smithville, Philadelphia, Hackleburg, Cullman and everything else that had already happened.

KHTX went down due to communications failure after I was able to save just two volume scans from it, but note that one of them shows an astonishing forty-one tornado warnings in effect (that was before GR Level 3 differentiated between tornado warning, tornado warning with confirmation, and tornado emergency)!

BMX_2205_BR_smooth.pngBMX_2205_BV.pngBMX_2210_BR_smooth.pngBMX_2210_BV.pngBMX_2215_BR_smooth.pngBMX_2215_BV.pngBMX_2219_BR_smooth.pngBMX_2224_BR_smooth.pngBMX_2224_BV.png
HTX_2216_BR_smooth_overlay.png
 
Messages
2,754
Reaction score
4,292
Location
Madison, WI
More as the Tuscaloosa tornado appeared to intensify and approach a mind-boggling second direct hit on a densely populated city, meanwhile the Cordova tornado was near the Cullman/Blount county line, the Eoline EF3 was ongoing, and the "daughter cell" threatened to produce again back over Tuscaloosa/Northport.
 

Attachments

  • BMX_2228_BR_smooth.png
    BMX_2228_BR_smooth.png
    172.4 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2228_BV.png
    BMX_2228_BV.png
    141.7 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2233_BR_smooth.png
    BMX_2233_BR_smooth.png
    172.2 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2233_BR_smooth_overlay_wide.png
    BMX_2233_BR_smooth_overlay_wide.png
    185.4 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2233_SRV1.png
    BMX_2233_SRV1.png
    181.5 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2238_BR_smooth.png
    BMX_2238_BR_smooth.png
    174 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2238_SRV1.png
    BMX_2238_SRV1.png
    187.4 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2242_BR_smooth.png
    BMX_2242_BR_smooth.png
    176.6 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2242_SRV1.png
    BMX_2242_SRV1.png
    185.8 KB · Views: 0
Last edited:
Messages
2,754
Reaction score
4,292
Location
Madison, WI
More, as the Tuscaloosa tornado inexorably approached and plowed through the western/northern suburbs of Birmingham...
 

Attachments

  • BMX_2255_SRV1.png
    BMX_2255_SRV1.png
    178.7 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2255_BR_smooth.png
    BMX_2255_BR_smooth.png
    162.4 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2300_BR_smooth.png
    BMX_2300_BR_smooth.png
    160.2 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2300_SRV1.png
    BMX_2300_SRV1.png
    181.8 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2304_BR_smooth.png
    BMX_2304_BR_smooth.png
    155.4 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2304_SRV1.png
    BMX_2304_SRV1.png
    181.6 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2309_BR_smooth.png
    BMX_2309_BR_smooth.png
    162.9 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2309_SRV1.png
    BMX_2309_SRV1.png
    172.2 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2314_BR_smooth.png
    BMX_2314_BR_smooth.png
    184.3 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2314_SRV1.png
    BMX_2314_SRV1.png
    205.9 KB · Views: 0
Messages
2,754
Reaction score
4,292
Location
Madison, WI
...and cycled, producing the Ohatchee EF4, meanwhile the Eoline tornado remained intense until near the end of its track, only just sparing the southern reaches of the Birmingham Metro...
 

Attachments

  • BMX_2332_BR_smooth.png
    BMX_2332_BR_smooth.png
    192.7 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2332_SRV1.png
    BMX_2332_SRV1.png
    208.7 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2336_BR_smooth.png
    BMX_2336_BR_smooth.png
    190.5 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2336_SRV1.png
    BMX_2336_SRV1.png
    208.7 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2341_BR_smooth.png
    BMX_2341_BR_smooth.png
    188.6 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2341_SRV1.png
    BMX_2341_SRV1.png
    208 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2346_BR_smooth.png
    BMX_2346_BR_smooth.png
    187 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2350_BR_smooth.png
    BMX_2350_BR_smooth.png
    192.4 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2346_SRV1.png
    BMX_2346_SRV1.png
    203.7 KB · Views: 0
  • BMX_2350_SRV1.png
    BMX_2350_SRV1.png
    202.3 KB · Views: 0
Messages
2,754
Reaction score
4,292
Location
Madison, WI
...closer looks from KFFC as the Ohatchee EF4 approached the AL/GA line...
 

Attachments

  • FFC_0020_BR_smooth.png
    FFC_0020_BR_smooth.png
    155.3 KB · Views: 0
  • FFC_0020_SRV1.png
    FFC_0020_SRV1.png
    56.8 KB · Views: 0
  • FFC_0025_BR_smooth.png
    FFC_0025_BR_smooth.png
    156.2 KB · Views: 0
  • FFC_0029_BR_smooth.png
    FFC_0029_BR_smooth.png
    159.5 KB · Views: 0
  • FFC_0025_SRV1.png
    FFC_0025_SRV1.png
    122.1 KB · Views: 0
  • FFC_0029_BV.png
    FFC_0029_BV.png
    106.3 KB · Views: 0
  • FFC_0034_BR_smooth.png
    FFC_0034_BR_smooth.png
    159.3 KB · Views: 0
  • FFC_0034_SRV1.png
    FFC_0034_SRV1.png
    58.3 KB · Views: 0
  • FFC_0039_BR_smooth.png
    FFC_0039_BR_smooth.png
    165.1 KB · Views: 0
  • FFC_0039_SRV1.png
    FFC_0039_SRV1.png
    134.8 KB · Views: 0
Messages
2,754
Reaction score
4,292
Location
Madison, WI
...some from KMXX of the Lake Martin EF4...
 

Attachments

  • MXX_0132_BR_smooth.png
    MXX_0132_BR_smooth.png
    229.3 KB · Views: 0
  • MXX_0146_SRV1.png
    MXX_0146_SRV1.png
    166.5 KB · Views: 0
  • MXX_0146_BR_smooth.png
    MXX_0146_BR_smooth.png
    221.4 KB · Views: 0
  • MXX_0142_SRV1.png
    MXX_0142_SRV1.png
    166.7 KB · Views: 0
  • MXX_0142_BR_smooth.png
    MXX_0142_BR_smooth.png
    225 KB · Views: 0
  • MXX_0137_BV.png
    MXX_0137_BV.png
    132.4 KB · Views: 0
  • MXX_0137_BR_smooth.png
    MXX_0137_BR_smooth.png
    230.3 KB · Views: 0
  • MXX_0132_BV.png
    MXX_0132_BV.png
    133.8 KB · Views: 0
  • MXX_0128_BV.png
    MXX_0128_BV.png
    132 KB · Views: 0
  • MXX_0128_BR_smooth.png
    MXX_0128_BR_smooth.png
    214.1 KB · Views: 0
Messages
2,754
Reaction score
4,292
Location
Madison, WI
...more, and finally some from KFFC as significant tornadoes continued well into the night over Georgia, including the deadly Barnesville "EF3" event.
 

Attachments

  • MXX_0151_BR_smooth.png
    MXX_0151_BR_smooth.png
    223.8 KB · Views: 0
  • MXX_0151_SRV1.png
    MXX_0151_SRV1.png
    152.9 KB · Views: 0
  • MXX_0155_BR_smooth.png
    MXX_0155_BR_smooth.png
    219.1 KB · Views: 0
  • MXX_0155_SRV1.png
    MXX_0155_SRV1.png
    156.6 KB · Views: 0
  • FFC_0445_BR_smooth.png
    FFC_0445_BR_smooth.png
    292.2 KB · Views: 0
  • FFC_0445_BV.png
    FFC_0445_BV.png
    182.9 KB · Views: 0
  • FFC_0449_BR_smooth.png
    FFC_0449_BR_smooth.png
    302.5 KB · Views: 0
  • FFC_0449_SRV1.png
    FFC_0449_SRV1.png
    252.6 KB · Views: 0
  • FFC_0454_BR_smooth.png
    FFC_0454_BR_smooth.png
    302.6 KB · Views: 0
  • FFC_0454_SRV1.png
    FFC_0454_SRV1.png
    258.3 KB · Views: 0

UncleJuJu98

Member
100,000th Post
Messages
3,864
Reaction score
4,966
Location
Birmingham
I'd like to say, reading through the archived thread for April 27th 2011. It was a incredible anomaly. I was 11 years old when it came through it's one of the events that sparked my interest in weather. That and the center point January 2012 tornado that lifted before hitting my house and went on to kill a girl down the road.

I know the toll on first responders that day where awful. My dad had to work 48 hours being that he was a first responder. The event really put a toll on people's emotions my dad told me when the pleasant Grove/ fultondale tornado that went north of Birmingham city came through all the really could do was get spray paint and paint on structures weather they found dead bodies or things like that because they're was so much catastrophic amage.

My dad even told me he had found a bare heart to either a animal or human in rubble.. really struck out to me that day how many things came into play. We likely won't see another event like that in Alabama until I'm in my 40s with children that are teenagers.
 

UncleJuJu98

Member
100,000th Post
Messages
3,864
Reaction score
4,966
Location
Birmingham
I imagine this event was real gut punch to many professional weather enthusiasts and meteorologists, I know James spann says he still has regrets on that day, and God bless him for that. I think he did his best with everything that he had. A lot of situations were just to catastrophic that if you weren't underground they're was no way you could have survived. It seems these type of events usually crop up every 25-40 years. Hopefully meteorological data gathering and forecast models have improved even more in that time, to be able to help decrease the death toll of future tornado events.

I really believe that Mississippi and Alabama produce more strong/violent tornadoes now than your prototypical tornado alley, heck even data supports that. Like spann says you can never really get that good chaser cam footage in the south so it may seem skewed when you see the stuff out in the plains and it makes you think wow they get a lot of tornadoes. But we get just as many here in the deep south, at least strong/violent ones.
 
Messages
681
Reaction score
1,033
Location
Oakland, Tennessee
Apologies but I just found a serious bruh moment in the AmericanWx 4/27 thread. Note that this was around the same time Eoline was getting rocked and Ohatchee was forming:

baroclinic_instability: Anymore silly posts from anyone (yes you mongoose) and you will be immediately 5 posted.

Several minutes later

mongoose: Let's hope we can do better.
am19psu: Didn't get the message, did you?
mongoose: No I didn't get your ridiculous messgae in the midst of this massive loss, no you really don't matter, b**ch!
am19psu: See you in three days.
 
Back
Top