Alabama, 2001

Flash Flood in Alabama, July 12, 2001

July 12, 2001 · 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
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.

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 Jul 12, 2:00 PM CST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 12, 2:00 PM CST, 3 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
300 PM CDT THU JUL 12 2001

LATEST SATELLITE LOOPS ACROSS THE SE U.S. CONTINUE SHOW NEXT
SIGNIFICANT S/W TROUGH DIVING DOWN INTO THE TN VALLEY WITH
CONVECTION FIRING MOSTLY OVER NORTHERN MS. NEAR THE SFC SEABREEZE
FRONT HAS DEVELOPED ALONG THE IMMEDIATE COAST AIDING IN THE
ADDITIONAL TS COVERAGE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING MOSTLY NEAR THE
COAST. MAIN CONCERN FOR NOW LOOKS TO BE CONVECTION REDEVELOPING OVER
MOST OF CWFA LATER TONIGHT FOLLOWED BY DRIER AIR PENETRATING
SOUTHWARD ACROSS THE REGION LATE FRIDAY...POSSIBLY EXITING THE COAST
DURING THE EVENING HOURS.

LATEST MODEL SOLUTIONS PREFERABLY THE AVN IN FAIR AGREEMENT WITH
CURRENT PATTERN OVER THE MID TO LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY
PLACING NEXT IMPULSE OVER THE CWFA BETWEEN 06 AND 12Z FRIDAY. KIND
OF AN ANOMALOUS SITUATION FOR THIS TIME OF THE YEAR THOUGH LOOKING
AT CURRENT VISIBLE LOOPS OVER THE NORTHERN PARTS OF AL/MS WILL GO
AHEAD AND ADJUST POPS ACROSS THE REGION FOR TONIGHT AND EARLY
FRIDAY. AS FOR THE SEVERITY OF THIS SITUATION MAIN CONCERN LOOKS TO
BE ALONG THE COAST WHERE HIGHER CAPES AND DEWPOINTS WILL CONTINUE
WITH LAPSE RATES STILL MARGINAL. WITH THIS WILL ADJUST CURRENT POPS
TO THE NORTH AND KEEP CURRENT NUMBERS NEAR THE COAST.

EXTENDED...BOTH ETA/AVN MODELS MOVE SFC BOUNDARY OFF THE COAST EARLY
SATURDAY CONTINUING SOUTHWARD OVER THE WEEKEND. LATEST MODEL
SOLUTIONS SHOW A WEAK REINFORCEMENT OF DRIER MOVING ACROSS THE
REGION ON SUN GIVING WAY TO DRIER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS INTO THE
EARLY PART OF NEXT WEEK.

MARINE...GUSTY WINDS NEAR SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS MOST TONIGHT...
FOLLOWED BY A GRADUAL SHIFT TO THE WEST THAN NORTHWEST THROUGHOUT
THE DAY ON FRIDAY. GENERALLY A NORTHERLY FLOW 10 TO 15 KT THROUGH
SUNDAY...SHIFTING EAST BY MONDAY.

PRELIM NUMBERS...
MOB TB 075/091 071/092 070 32552
PNS TB 077/093 072/091 070 32552
DTS TB 078/090 074/091 072 32553
GZH TB 075/090 070/090 069 32441
2R0 TB 075/091 069/091 068 32541
61A BE 074/091 069/090 068 32441

.MOB...
AL...NONE.
FL...NONE.
MS...NONE.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Mobile

When
July 12, 5:00 PM CST to 6:00 PM CST
Where
Mobile County, Central Portion
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
30.685, -88.197 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy rains caused street flooding in the central parts of the county. Some secondary roads had to be closed near Lott Road and in downtown Mobile. The streets were closed for about an hour until the rain stopped and the streets drained. Radar estimated that three to five inches of rain fell in a two hour period.

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

More

Every storm in Alabama in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, July 2001

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: 5259560.