Alabama Hail: March 19, 2018
Destructive hail near Good Hope, AL
The first legitimate storm chase of the season took place in northern Alabama, where significant severe thunderstorms produced destructive hail and tornadoes. Most of the tornadoes were rain-wrapped or occurred after dark, but I was able to chase a few storms before light faded away.
Starting in northeastern Mississippi on the afternoon of March 19th, I shifted east into Alabama to get into place for rapidly organizing supercells. The terrain in the area is tough for storm chasing, but I was able to find a clearing near Red Bay to watch one of the supercells develop. Storm reports indicate a short-lived tornado caused damage with the storm below at the time of the photograph, but nothing is conclusive in the shot. It is entirely possible that any tornado was rain-wrapped, or otherwise obscured by terrain and/or precipitation.
Wall cloud and inflow. Red Bay, AL, March 19th, 2018.
The storm chase continued east, but increasingly poor visibility, hilly terrain and less-than-ideal road networks caused me to divert south, to avoid penetrating the core of the storms. Many chasers were struck by intense winds, some near a tornado over Russellville, but I wanted to have no part in that.
Shortly before sunset, a small supercell rapidly organized to the north of Good Hope, Alabama and I got into position for a visual. It was clear that this supercell was elevated, meaning that the threat for hail was much more significant than for a tornado, given that the storm was probably not rooted at the surface. Letting the storm pass, I went to investigate hail size and found that there was widespread tennis ball size hail, with a few hailstones as large as baseballs, or about 2.75 inches in diameter. Even though this hail was significant, historic hail sizes, around 5 inches in diameter, caused major damage just one town over, in Cullman.
Chasing in Dixie (Deep South) is often a challenge, but this storm chase was an opportunity to get back out on the road and chase again. With 2018 being off to a slow start for severe weather, beggars cannot be choosers.
Significant hail near Good Hope, AL, March 19th, 2018.
