ABC 33/40 Coverage of the April 27, 2011 Outbreak (

Coverage of the largest tornado outbreak in recent history across the southeast. Abc 33/40 did an outstanding job warning civilians that day.

[@spcoll7587]

Honestly, to see his reaction live with the STI at 12.6 is so eerie. Especially when you know what happens after. It

[@jeremybelcher1727]

Indeed. Later on, it went as high as 15.3. James and Jason were so shocked that they briefly went into harmonized disbelief.

[@Hopeful_Libertarian]

@@jeremybelcher1727 I think that the afternoon Cordova tornado actually gave a 17.5 value. But, this 12.6 was just the beginning of what would happen later that day.

[@losoyaknoso]

I live in Michigan, clearly not an abundance of severe weather outside of blizzards, but this guy is the best meteorologist I've ever seen. He's so informative yet he does it in a simple way that anyone can understand. Ive watched all these videos and he did an amazing job all throughout that day. Clearly the bar is higher for meteorologists down south.

[@Hopeful_Libertarian]

My family lives in Birmingham (I'm from there), but I live in Tampa Bay. I remember getting to the gym that night, and the tornado outbreak was the top news story here in Tampa! I drove home, had James Spann on my laptop and The Weather Channel on my television.

[@lordbacon4504]

i live in birmingham and he really is

[@CaliforniaGuy88]

You know you're screwed when a meteorologist says " Wow, I never seen that before".

[@PublicAtLarge]

You know you are screwed. You just don’t know HOW screwed that you are.

[@altfactor]

April 27th, 2011 was the Finest Hour in the history of Central Alabama television. The efforts by the local TV stations in reporting the tornado outbreak may have saved thousands, if not tens of thousands of lives.

[@Zoomer30]

Around 1:44 is what people in the weather business call a "Oh shit" moment. When you think a weather parameter is a 0-10 scale and Mr. Computer is spitting out a high 12, yikes.

[@jeremybelcher1727]

Later on, it went up to 15.3. James and Jason briefly harmonized in their disbelief. Simply unreal.

[@Thicc_Cheese_Dip]

@@jeremybelcher1727 that was the Cordova supercell I believe. That one ended up peaking at 17.5.

[@robschottjr.630]

Had I seen that high a number, I would’ve simply taken a deep breath, looked at the camera, and calmly said, “…….yyyyyeah, we’re f**ked”

[@T.bROwn_77]

I remember this outbreak so well... being a weather geek and holding an interest in severe weather, I remember looking at the Jet Stream data nearly 2 wks out and seeing the jet stream at 80-100 MPH at 34,000 feet. I still get chills just thinking abt that...

[@craigodem3815]

Watching this in 2020... still chilling.

[@vancevermilya7788]

No one better than James Spann !!!!!

[@mrslinarcos]

Spann is way better than Dr. Greg Forbes who loves to be really hyper.

[@cshafer29169]

Respect the polygon. Love that phrase.

[@kirkteeters1046]

I am of the age where I remember taking shelter in the basement during the 1965 Indiana palm Sunday tornado outbreak. I wish we had some one like James back in 1965 and 1974.

[@savvydirtfarmer]

1:45 Spann says, "wow..." I watch this again every now and then... that gets me every time. He knew it was going to be a bad afternoon.

[@DanDrolett]

Suffice to say "General Hospital" was not seen that day.

[@AlabamaElevators]

Dan Drolett did he use a capture card?

[@DanDrolett]

Looks like a Dish Network DVR. Been a while since I've had one, but I think the current models can capture to a flash drive.

[@AlabamaElevators]

Dan Drolett you don't see the directv symbol on the bottom left corner when the video starts?

[@DanDrolett]

My error. DirecTV has a similar DVR.

[@searchingformyself5319]

No, but in general, hospitals were seen that day. Sorry, that was terrible lol.

[@jkl6652]

"I thought it went to 10?" "I did too..." O_O. Pants messing time, kiddies. Go dig a hole and lay in it.

[@PENS68]

You can tell this weather event was going to be something that neither James Spann or Jason Simpson has ever seen before. Especially when that first storm had a Significant tornado index of 12.6 and both of them thought it maxed out to 10. I remember this day. I live in Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh and was going to school at the time and we were also under the gun for severe weather that day. I believe they had us at a moderate risk for severe weather with the possibility of some tornadoes but we never saw any. I remember watching this on the weather channel in between classes and the devastation these tornadoes caused in Alabama and is just unbelievable.

[@kingdawg237]

1:45 the look on james spann's face when he saw the 12.6 on what he thought was a 10 point scale...probably not the only one who was surprised

[@chesk13]

Yes, it produced two EF5s and two EF4s (Philadelphia EF5, Cordova EF4, Rainsville EF5, Ringgold EF4).

[@TheMightyLC]

James Spann is my favorite meteorologist and I live in AR...i wish all of them took this level of dedication to their viewers

[@carlahead2945]

Larry Smith Most Definitely!!! If all meterologists,were like him,there would be no lives lost. Weathermen like him should be given a 'Weatherman of the Year'Award or a Humanitarian Award

[@tracyfrederick5606]

Larry Smith Yeah, we're pretty proud to have him. Even more so, he's just a special man. Every time I see an interview, I'm blown away. I genuinely like him. Jason is pretty awesome too.

[@GillFan26]

It was a 100% chance of a tornado that day. This is the Super Outbreak of my lifetime.

[@utFLYrockets]

When the index that they thought maxed out at 10 is a 12.6, they're both like what the heck?

[@utFLYrockets]

Then every time it goes higher, they are more and more stunned. With later cells, it goes as high as 17.5

[@BillyBob-fq5vk]

James span craped his pants when he heard that

[@supertornadogun1690]

Jacob Freeh it goes to 20 i think

[@utFLYrockets]

Caiden Wichert It probably did on a few other cells of the outbreak (Tuscaloosa tornado probably was 20 if I had to guess)

[@supertornadogun1690]

Jacob Freeh maybe when the tornado was happening

[@OddballExtreme]

At 3:08, he says, "Let's hold it here for just a little bit--in fact we may be holding it here for 10 hours." Sure enough, this station was all over it for many hours!

[@Hopeful_Libertarian]

Until 1130 pm

[@ashleyodonnell1073]

I live in Iowa, so while I was sad to hear about the devastation this outbreak caused, I'll admit I didn't pay it much attention at the time. But last night I saw a documentary on tv about it, and it peaked my interest to educate myself a little more about those horrifying days, and I stumbled across this video. I just have to commend this meteorology team, because they are doing a phenomenal job and really seem to know their stuff and deliver it without causing panic. Kudos to them!

[@chesk13]

At 5:34 he foretells how the supercell near Philadelphia, MS could affect Alabama later. He nailed it. That storm caused the tornadoes that went through Cordova and then Rainsville.

[@Thicc_Cheese_Dip]

I believe it also caused the Ringgold tornado.

[@fgossage]

Hackleburg/Phil Campbell was rated EF5. All the others you listed were rated EF4.... although, the Tuscaloosa/Birmingham was rated upper-end EF4... and there was significant consideration given toward an EF5 rating before the EF4 rating was finalized. The Oakman/Cordova supercell also produced an EF5 back in Mississippi and an EF5 in the Rainsville, Alabama area.

[@Thicc_Cheese_Dip]

The Cordova supercell also produced the Ringgold tornado I believe.

[@kenwb3513]

I watch this every year on April 27th; I've always been fascinated by weather, especially severe weather. Every time I watch I analyze the parameters and how perfect the atmosphere conducive for violent long-track tornadoes. James Spann and Jason Simpson saved a lot of lives this day. RIP to all the victims and those affected by this generational tornado outbreak.

[@vr6swp]

I have been told the biggest reason most north AL schools were closed on 4/27/11 was very simple: No Power. The line of storms that passed through at 4 - 5am caused widespread power outages and some flooding.

[@isaiahsoma]

It just occurred to me that this storm isn't warned at the 9:00 and has a STI number of 12.6. This is significant because tornadoes on March 26 and April 15 had tornado impact numbers of 10.0 but STI numbers at around maybe 2 and were causing some significant damage across the state.

[@Greg29fan]

The storm they pan over to near Philadelphia MS at 5:33 produced an EF-5 tornado.

[@blake7871]

I think that same supercell produced the Rainsville EF5.

[@fgossage]

The main difference between the "index" shown in this video... and also that BTI that was mentioned in another comment... and the TOR:CON Index that Dr. Forbes uses.... is the TOR:CON is a *forecast* index that assesses tornado potential over a large area for the whole day, like the Slight, Moderate, and High Risks. The "Significant Tornado Index" and "BTI (Baron Tornado Index", etc.... are mainly radar driven, and indicate the likelihood of a tornado down in each individual storm one by one.

[@TheMightykaz]

This guy did an amazing job! I love how he holds the program even when a do warning wasn't issued.

[@Zoomer30]

Shocking that they had such big storms in the morning and the atmosphere was able to "recover" so quickly to get such intense instability. Usually early confection causes "connective debris" (clouds) that reduces the sun energy. Also usually "eats up" all the energy.

[@ChalkTalkTV]

+Zoomer30 It's a double-edged sword. On one end, there's the benefit of what you described. On the other, you have the outflow boundaries that can certainly enhance the intensity of later storms. Clearly happened with this event.

[@supertornadogun1690]

+Zoomer30 also the entisity of those midnight storms was incredible to

[@crossbowftw3833]

@@ChalkTalkTV the second wave of storms that morning set the outflow boundaries that helped boost the intensity of the afternoon cells

[@crystalmichelle7907]

Spann is the man when it comes to severe weather! Love him!

[@CarrieBHS]

This day breaks my heart.

[@jenjen171995]

A couple hours before this, when the tornado near pine flat, ms hit, I was in class taking my final exam and we had to keep getting into the hallway on and off to take shelter and when it was over they eventually just let us go home. A lot of kids failed that year

[@greywalker505]

1:47 Words you don’t EVER want to hear from a meteorologist during situations like this.

[@brycehale4725]

Especially less than five minutes into the outbreak

[@fgossage]

They're a sponsor that helps cover the cost of the station going live wall-to-wall for hours on days like that. TV stations can blow out a MIND BOGGLING amount of money from going live, non-stop on a day like April 27, 2011.... because of all the advertisements that are not shown.....

[@Hopeful_Libertarian]

From what I understand, Atlanta's Fox station refused to pull away from American Idol for more than 30 secs. Of course, the EF 4 Catooga tornado tore through Atlanta's northern metro area. The collapsed 3-story hotel & leveled restaurants killed many people.

[@Hopeful_Libertarian]

Obviously the Birmingham AL Fox affiliate treated the situation much more seriously.

[@Hopeful_Libertarian]

My family lives in Birmingham (I'm from there), but I live in Tampa Bay. I remember getting to the gym that night, and the tornado outbreak was the top news story here in Tampa! I drove home, had James Spann on my laptop and The Weather Channel on my television.

[@mcadventurer1533]

12.6! Now that's scary! If I were responsible for issuing warnings, I would put one up!

[@john90mpw]

Yes Im a student in Bessemer, Al. They let us out of school early that day because of the warnings we got many days in advance. They told us it was going to be a significant weather event with possible long-track tornadoes. The city and county school boards did not take this lightly and planned in advance. If we didn't get the early warnings that we did, we ay have had more casualties. Thank God for meteorologists like James Spann(ABC 33/40) and JP Dice (Fox 6/WBRC)

[@AidenlovesRichfield]

James is the man, he even said they would go to progamming but they stayed on even though there wasnt any tornados, he thought a warning would be issued, he got it, a tornado warning was issued a few minutes later.

[@TheMightykaz]

I have always thought of Jarrell being one of the strongest tornadoes ever. but after 2011 I will have to agree with you. The Philadelphia tornado was moving very fast if I recall 55-60 mph? It's amazing it dug those trenches while moving at such speed. I live 40 minutes from Joplin and areas I went to rated high end ef5 (east of Lowes) had missing pavement and not a blade of grass in some parts. But to dig 2 feet deep trenches is inconceivable to me.

[@JamesBarcus]

That's James Spann for you. He's a Mac guy, has been for years. He loves how dependable they are.

[@vr6swp]

A co-worker's mother is a school administrator - the board had been on the fence as to whether to close the schools at 11, or take a wait-and-see but keep the busses on standby. They did not expect the early AM storms that caused power outages at several facilities. With no power and no ETA as to when it would be back on they had little choice but to close for the day.

[@fgossage]

School systems in Alabama had been doing this for pretty much every tornado risk prior to April 27, 2011. While there had been school closings before, the event that REALLY jump started the practice in Alabama was the March 1, 2007 event at Enterprise High School...

[@TheMightykaz]

@OddballExtreme which one was it?

[@vr6swp]

You're in Harvest, AL, right? The tornado that hit Harvest is the same one that wiped out Phil Campbell and Hackleburg. It was on the ground for something close to TWO HOURS before it got to you. In addition, all the TV stations in Huntsville were on un-interrupted storm coverage that day (the video streams have been uploaded on youtube) clearly showing the hook echo. If I recall this is the same one that took out WAAY's radar / weather cam in Limestone county. So yeah. No.

[@jacobtodd1622]

That HIGH Risk should have included more of Mississippi.

[@fgossage]

@TheMightykaz That storm he talks about that's still in Mississippi is actually the storm that produces the Cordova area tornado. The storm that eventually develops immediately south of it produces the Tuscaloosa-Birmingham tornado. However, the storm he is talking about, that produces the Cordova tornado... produces a total of four separate EF4-EF5 tornadoes on its track... Philadelphia, MS area EF5; Cordova, AL EF4; Rainsville, AL EF5; and Ringgold, GA EF4.

[@OddballExtreme]

Okay, noticing this video, I have a question. At 1:40, there's the blue box with the tornado info, including the "Significant Tornado Index." It looks like both meteorologists (I can only remember James Spann in the shot) were shocked at how high that number was. Does anyone know exactly how that index works? Is it similar to Dr. Greg Forbes' "Tornado Condition Index"?

[@joshuasmith6439]

Are there any videos of the coverage of the morning's first round of storms?

[@supertornadogun1690]

+Joshua Smith i dont know but if there is its difficult to find

[@thesmartestone8329]

They just posted it-- check the Abc 3340 youtube page... The recording starts at 3:30 am and goes to 9:00 am

[@maggiesatterfield2402]

April 27, 2011 Historic Tornado Outbreak - ABC 33/40 Live Coverage 3:30am-9:00am

[@tampabayrails]

I remember this insane storm in Florida. It brought torrential rains, a lot of lightning, and wind gusts of about 55-65 mph. Several weak tornadoes formed in the area. One threw airplanes around in Lakeland Florida.

[@Hopeful_Libertarian]

I lived in Tampa Bay at that time, but my entire family livee in and around Birmingham, AL. Trying to figure out everyone's safety the next two days really scared me. Fortunately, for my family, everyone was OK.

[@fgossage]

The Philadelphia, Mississippi tornado was actually rated EF5. The EF4 rating was upgraded a little later...

[@fgossage]

I never claimed to be an expert... but strong tornadoes were forecast TWO days or more in advance. Simply put, the schools closing thing happens mainly in Alabama after the Enterprise, AL tornado in March of 2007. I live here. I'm the guy that drove the radar for FOX6 WBRC in Birmingham on 4/27/2011. You can find my Facebook profile easily. I'm not an expert, but have been forecasting severe weather for almost 20 years. Do some EASY research before criticizing someone....

[@linambook]

I was in my Sophomore year when this happened. My school was delayed by two hours but when I looked outside I was like nope not today.

[@snreynolds91]

Whats with all the school closings? Do they close schools because of severe weather in the south?

[@GillFan26]

What was the ratings of these tornadoes: Hackleburg/Phil Campbell Tornado, Cullman Tornado, Oakman/Cordova Tornado, and Tuscaloosa/Birmingham Tornado?

[@Hopeful_Libertarian]

Hackleburg/Phil Campbell EF 5, the others EF 4

[@winfordt.mcguillacutty2553]

This was the one that hit Cullman, correct?

[@fgossage]

You're talking about the Moore, Oklahoma tornado... but you're still wrong. The Moore area was under a Moderate Risk (specifically for strong tornadoes) a full day ahead of time, the area was placed under a Tornado Watch just short of TWO HOURS before the EF5 tornado first touched down.... and the tornado WARNING was issued at 2:40 pm. The tornado survey states that the tornado first touched down at 2:56 pm. That's 16 minutes of lead time on the warning. Might wanna do some research yourself.

[@Totalpleasure1972]

The tornado that went through Hackleburg and Phil Campbell was an EF-5

[@Lessinath]

This was also being broadcast over the radio.

[@GillFan26]

At the 9:10 point is where the first warning is issued for Walker and Winston counties.

[@patrickbama1234]

4/28/2014 reminded me of this day.

[@EDavid17]

Yes

[@isaiahsoma]

Yeah I've watched a lot of these videos, and it isn't until about 3:00 PM or so that there was more than one storm in the state that wasn't in the Huntsville TV market. Plus, most storms, despite racing at 60 mph+, were in Mississippi during this time. It only just occurred to me now that I don't recall hearing to much about the storms in Mississippi on this day, mostly in Alabama.

[@OddballExtreme]

@mashlover123456 Thanks. I usually keep up with this, but the Montgomery stations' radars aren't as advanced as the Birmingham stations.

[@BillyBob-fq5vk]

I remember that day I live near jasper and I saw one tornado that day but my power was out for about a week

[@deadaccount6499]

2019 anyone

[@michaelmyers4162]

buy the grace of god i survived that horrible day, i lived in walker county or carbonhill in between Winfield n jasper, lost 2 friends who had chicken farms wiped out , just a bad day for all who made it through

[@fgossage]

Based on what I've been able to gather so far, that Tornado Impact Number is a 1-10 rating, based on radar and the environment... like Baron's BTI. That STI seems to be an environmental parameter... a point readout of the STP that Spann likes to use for forecasting. Notice that the system will also give CAPE and Storm Relative Helicity for storms. This is environmental parameters for the area the storms are located in. The STI seems to be the same thing... as the STP renamed. STP was 12+...

[@ogdocvato]

Dr. Ted Fujita would have been so proud of the tremendous advances in storm warnings that had been realized by April 2011.

[@espinozamejia2191]

I live in alabama

[@bilalahmed2123]

Tornado outbreak in across the southeast. They did an outstanding job warning citizens that day.

[@tylermoon79]

We didn't have school on 4/27/11 and we didn't have it for a few days here I'm walker county.

[@altfactor]

The day before this outbreak, the Weather Channel's "Torcon" index for the area was 10, meaning that for northern Alabama, there was a 100 percent chance of a tornado within 50 miles of any location in that area. It was the first time since that index was created (and as far as I know, the only time up to this writing in March, 2018) that the network ever issued a Torcon index reading of 10 for any area of the United States.

[@kennithyt1851]

I was in the storm that storm was the worst we hade yet I mean it wiped out Philcamble and hackle burg and it killed lots of people

[@entertainmentmaster4]

This was a real scary day

[@karlitosway7474]

I live in Montgomery Alabama and I was scared a f watching the weather that day. Thought I would get hit but I didnt. However, the suburban county of Elmore Co got hit by a ef4 near lake Martin.

[@andrewpearson1493]

I live in holt and it was so close to my house

[@tracyfrederick5606]

TriLLBeatz 334 I'm in Montgomery too. As a child I lived in Dixie Alley. I went through the 1974 outbreak. Watching the tornado go through Tuscaloosa, then Birmingham on WSFA was horrifying. I just knew when the storms got here, we were going to die. It was so scary. We got lucky.

[@vr6swp]

Not sure what you mean with this comment. Both the Weather Channel and weather underground were all over this outbreak for at least two or three days beforehand. TWC even rolled the dice with a 10/10 TorCon rating for the southeastern US late on the 26th

[@TheMightykaz]

If you go to weather.gov and click sever weather on the left then go to meso analysis you can learn quite a bit about it and many other weather factors. It's a combination of factors that can produce tornadoes. The higher the factors the higher the probability for tornadoes.

[@sallywag7439]

I hope nothing like this ever happens again

[@OddballExtreme]

@TheMightykaz It's the video from 3:45-4:00pm. Go to 1:06, and you'll see it. Hope this helps!

[@OddballExtreme]

@JamesBarcus30 Thanks. ^_^ It just aroused my curiosity because none of the TV stations here in Montgomery have anything like that.

[@mashlover123456]

@OddballExtereme No, it is NEXRAD indicated and apparently runs to 20

[@Lessinath]

On paper, I agree with this. But in practice they were not entirely sure when storms would initiate - and remember that storms began to form much earlier to the west in Mississippi. They decided not to take any chances - and that's exactly what you need to do on a day like that. Take no chances.

[@iGamingAlliance]

I live in western North Carolina. Toured Faith Chapel Christian Center, the big concrete dome church, in research for arena construction. I knew of the tornadoes but really didn't know the big one hit the church. Amazing how it survived. These videos I researched later. We really aren't ready for real disaster where we live. Most people's plans are "God would NEVER..." Yes...yes He would. Thank God for Spann and others who saved unknown number of lives.

[@arizonatsunami]

A Macbook Pro and suspenders in the same frame???? My head just exploded.

[@vr6swp]

Also know that Madison and Limestone counties waited until maybe 9am to make the call to close at 12. Two other co-workers flew out the door at lunch to scoop up their kids.

[@alyssaantonakis]

This occurred on my birthday omg

[@nathantech77]

My great grandmother had an interesting birthday, we almost spent half of it in the sellar.

[@brandoncenteno218]

This was a very special event; very bad setup for weather. I think it was smart to close schools. This was a bad, bad setup and a bad, bad day.

[@TheMightykaz]

5:44 mentions prob the strongest tornado in history.

[@Gemmydude598]

I was in 3rd grade when this happened i live in moody so we had one in morning at 6am and it was the scariest moment in my life 

[@F4FireAndSecurity]

gemmydude598 How big was the tornado?

[@andrewpearson1493]

Conor Sturmey f4

[@microwave8801]

Andrew Pearson no it was a f-1 the one that hit that morning than later that day it was a f-4

[@juleroe4702]

Whoa

[@TheMightykaz]

@fgossage Yea I was reffering to the Philadelphia tornado. I've never seen a tornado dig up 3 feet of ground like that one did.

[@Stormchasersfan1233]

Damn well even ABC 33/40 Had problems with camera radar etc.

[@americansmark]

Damn. 12.6.

[@proud2bpagan]

I remember this...lived in Weaver then. tg I was at my mom's house,as we lived in a trailer at the time.James and his meterolgoical kin saved *so* many lives that day.

[@jaxman1362]

Coverage of the April 27 2011 severe weather outbreak!

[@vanhouten64]

The storm discussed here (the one passing west of Jasper) did not produce a confirmed tornado.

[@fgossage]

+vanhouten64 Not in Walker County (where Jasper is located), but if you simply watch the next few videos, you will quite easily see that it's the same supercell that produced the Cullman EF4 tornado.

[@GuntersvilleLakeFishing]

if this tornadoes significant tornado index was at 12.6, what were the big tornadoes that happened that days index, say tuscaloosa, bham, the cullman arab tornado, the harvest tornado, i bet the index's were near 20.

[@OddballExtreme]

@americansmark That's nothing. In one of the later videos, that significant tornado index goes over 15.