Flash Flood in Alabama, May 5 to 6, 1999

Name: Flash Flood in Alabama, May 5 to 6, 1999
Start: 1999-05-05T23:00
End: 1999-05-06T02:30
Location: Alabama

May 5 to 6, 1999 · NWS BMX · 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $6,000
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 Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 46 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:57 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Madison

When: May 5, 11:00 PM CST to May 6, 2:30 AM CST
Where: Madison County, Countywide
Property damage: $6,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.763, -86.550 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash flooding was reported throughout the county but especially in the Huntsville area. Fire engines responding to the fires in Huntsville splashed through water a few feet deep in many locations. A police car was stranded in water at least three feet deep at an intersection. The city and county barricaded and closed numerous roads that were impassable. Numerous auto accidents occurred due to the high water but no injuries were reported.

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 1999 Every state in 1999 This day in weather history Warnings in Alabama, May 1999

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: 5695404.