Flash Flood in Alabama, January 7, 1998

Name: Flash Flood in Alabama, January 7, 1998
Start: 1998-01-07T06:40
End: 1998-01-07T11:59
Location: Alabama

January 7, 1998 · NWS MOB · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $30,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 4 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:38 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Mobile

When: January 7, 6:40 AM CST to 11:59 AM CST
Where: Mobile County, Central Portion
Property damage: $30,000
Coordinates: 30.685, -88.197 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Four to six inches of rain caused many streets and small streams in the central and south parts of the county to flood. Many school buses became stranded in high water while taking kids to school. The flooding was more severe along US Highway 90 and west of I-65 between US Highway 98 and I-10. Fortunately no one was injured. A major washout occurred at the back of a shopping center along Twelvemile Creek near the intersection of Old Shell and University. The University of South Alabama recorded a twenty-four hour rainfall of 8.01 inches ending at 1159 pm on January 7 with 5.54 inches falling between 508 and 708 am and 3.48 inches from 608 to 708 am. At Mobile Regional Airport 2.89 inches of rain was recorded in an hour ending at 702 am.

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alabama in 1998 Every state in 1998 This day in weather history Warnings in Alabama, January 1998

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5628624.