According to the National Weather Service, this is only the third time Alabama has been put into a Level 5 risk two days out since 2006. It’s also notably only the third time in Storm Prediction Center history that a Level 5 risk has been added to the Day 2 forecast:

We all hear the terms when there's a threat of severe weather. But what does each alert mean, and how does it affect you?

It marks only the third time since at least 2006 that the highest risk level has been issued the day before an expected outbreak.