Tropical Storm in Alabama, August 4 to 5, 2001

Name: Tropical Storm in Alabama, August 4 to 5, 2001
Start: 2001-08-04T09:00
End: 2001-08-05T23:00
Location: Alabama

August 4 to 5, 2001 · NWS MOB · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Tropical Storm Barry affected the area on the 4th and 5th. Coastal Alabama was put under a Tropical Storm Watch at 900 am on August 4.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $40,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS MOB wrote it up.

Tropical Storm Barry affected the area on the 4th and 5th. Coastal Alabama was put under a Tropical Storm Watch at 900 am on August 4. The watch was upgraded to a Tropical Storm Warning at 300 pm on August 4 and to a Hurricane Warning at 700 am on August 5. The Hurricane Warning was lowered to a Tropical Storm Warning at 900 pm on August 5 and dropped at 1100 pm on August 5. Most of the damage along coastal Alabama was minor beach erosion. The new berm on Dauphin Island, built to protect homes against storm surge, had a twenty foot section of the berm washed away. Storm surge in coastal Mobile and Baldwin counties was estimated at 1 to 2 feet. The highest wind speed measured in the area was a gust of 35 mph at the Mobile Regional Airport. Very little rain fell over coastal Alabama with Brookley getting about three-quarters of an inch.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 4, 1:45 AM CST, 7 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 4, 1:45 AM CST, 7 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
245 AM CDT SAT AUG 4 2001

TROPICAL STORM BARRY NEAR STATIONARY...JUST A SLIGHT WESTERLY
DRIFT... AROUND 280 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF MOBILE. BARRY IS HUNG
UP IN THE AREA BETWEEN THE UPPER HIGH TO THE NORTHWEST AND UPPER
TROF TO THE NORTHEAST. SOME INDICATION THAT BARRY SHOULD BEGIN TO
MOVE WEST OR NORTHWEST WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. STILL A POSSIBILITY
THAT FORECAST AREA COULD COME UNDER A TS WATCH TODAY DEPENDING ON
HOW SOON AND WHAT DIRECTION BARRY MOVES. ANOTHER CONCERN IS SHORT
WAVE DROPPING SOUTH TOWARD FORECAST AREA DOWN THE FRONT SIDE OF H5
HIGH. THIS WILL BE IMPACTING THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON WITH INCREASING
MOISTURE AND PRECIPITATION CHANCES. IRAND WATER VAPOR SHOWS AREA OF
CLOUDS AND MOISTURE JUST NORTH OF FORECAST AREA CURRENTLY AND THINK
THIS WILL FIRE UP LATER THIS MORNING AS ATMOSPHERE HEATS UP. MAY OPT
TO BOOST CURRENT POPS UP A BIT

ZONE FORECAST DEPENDS UPON PATH OF TS BARRY AND BASED ON CURRENT
HURRICANE CENTER TRACK WILL INCREASE RAIN CHANCES FROM SUNDAY
AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE MONDAY AS CWFA COMES MORE UNDER THE INFLUENCE
OF THE EAST SIDE OF BARRY.

WILL LEAVE EXTENDED ALONE...HOWEVER IF BARRY GETS CAUGHT UP IN TROF
RAIN MAY END EARLIER AS BARRY SCOOTS OFF TO THE NORTHEAST.

MARINE...WILL LEAVE SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UP ALL BUT MOBILE
BAY...WAVE HEIGHTS AND WINDS HAVE DROPPED BUT THEY ARE BORDER LINE
IN THE 20-60NM LEGS AND SHOULD INCREASE WITH TIME. COASTAL FLOOD
WATCH WILL REMAIN UP. EVIDENTLY HAD SOME MINOR FLOODING ON THE WEST
END OF DAUPHIN ISLAND FRIDAY...WILL PROBABLY BE SAME AGAIN TODAY
AROUND HIGH TIDE. /11

PRELIM NUMBERS
MOB BT 091/073 087/075 085 114478
PNS BT 090/074 086/076 084 114478
DTS BT 088/076 086/077 084 114478
GZH TT 089/071 088/071 083 115257
2R0 TT 089/071 088/071 083 115257
61A TT 089/071 088/071 083 114257

.MOB...
AL...SCA GMZ650-670 THRU THIS PM. CFW GMZ630-650 THRU THIS PM.
FL...SCA GMZ655-675 THRU THIS PM. CFW GMZ655 THRU THIS PM.
MS...NONE.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 4, 5:00 AM CST, 4 hours before

ALZ051>064-FLZ001>006-MSZ067-075-076-078-079-041800-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
600 AM CDT SAT AUG 4 2001

TROPICAL STORM BARRY WAS ABOUT 250 MILES SOUTH OF MOBILE AT 4 AM.
BARRY WAS NEARLY STATIONARY BUT SHOULD BEGIN TO MOVE SLOWLY
NORTHWEST LATER TODAY.  OFFSHORE SWELLS WERE AROUND 7 FEET...LOWER
THAN THIS TIME YESTERDAY...BUT STILL CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DANGEROUS
RIP CURRENTS TODAY ON THE ALABAMA AND WEST FLORIDA PANHANDLE
BEACHES.

A COASTAL FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT THROUGH SUNDAY FROM DESTIN TO
PASCAGOULA.

SCATTERED AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE...OVER THE INTERIOR
AND COASTAL COUNTIES...SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TODAY.

ACTIVITATION OF SEVERE STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
PERSONNEL MIGHT BE REQUIRED AS EARLY AS TODAY...IF THERE IS A CHANGE
IN THE TRACK OR INTENSITY OF TROPICAL STORM BARRY.

ALL INTEREST SHOULD STAY ABREAST OF THE LAXTEST INFORMATION FROM THE
NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...VISIT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
MOBILE WEBSITE ON THE INTERNET AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/MOB.

Event by event

4 tropical storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Tropical Storm, Lower Baldwin

When: August 4, 9:00 AM CST to August 5, 11:00 PM CST
Where: Lower Baldwin forecast zone
Property damage: $40,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

Tropical Storm, Lower Mobile

When: August 4, 9:00 AM CST to August 5, 11:00 PM CST
Where: Lower Mobile forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

Tropical Storm, Upper Baldwin

When: August 4, 9:00 AM CST to August 5, 11:00 PM CST
Where: Upper Baldwin forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

Tropical Storm, Upper Mobile

When: August 4, 9:00 AM CST to August 5, 11:00 PM CST
Where: Upper Mobile forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

What these are

Tropical Storm: A tropical cyclone with sustained winds of 34 to 63 knots (39 to 73 mph).

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alabama in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Alabama, August 2001 The 2001 hurricane season

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: 5264847, 5264848, 5264849, 5264850.