Alabama tornado season: What we know, storm history, more
A tornado that swept across Alabama killed a mother and son in Montgomery early on Nov. 30, authorities confirmed. While tornadoes can occur at any time, the storm hit outside of Alabama's typical tornado season in the spring. Alabama often sees another spike of severe weather in the fall.
Here's what we know about tornadoes and severe weather season in Alabama.
March is the beginning of spring severe weather season, a period lasting through May. From 1950 to 2020 there have been 328 tornadoes confirmed in the state in March, compared to 553 in April and 238 in May, National Weather Service data shows. Not to be outdone, we see another spike of severe weather in the fall, with 279 tornadoes confirmed in November for the same time period.
Tornadoes can strike at any time of day, but the most likely period for them to occur is noon through 7 p.m., weather data shows. From 1950 through 2020, the most common time for tornadoes to strike is 5 p.m. with 219 tornadoes confirmed, compared to 192 cyclones during the 4 p.m. hour.
During the time period, there have been 43 tornadoes confirmed in Elmore County, 51 in Montgomery and 39 in Autauga counties, according to the National Weather Service.
For the time period, the most tornadoes confirmed were in 2011 with 145. The least was two in 1950. There were 73 tornadoes confirmed in 2020. For a 10-year average, there were 63 tornadoes confirmed in Alabama.
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: AL tornado season: Where and when storms hit, frequency
