Flash Flood and Damaging Wind in Alabama, March 3, 2001

Name: Flash Flood and Damaging Wind in Alabama, March 3, 2001
Start: 2001-03-03T13:45
End: 2001-03-03T15:00
Location: Alabama

March 3, 2001 · NWS TAE · 2 events in 1 county or zone

1 thunderstorm wind, 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: 2

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 Tallahassee, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 3, 10:55 AM EST, 2 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 3, 10:55 AM EST, 2 hours 50 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
1055 AM EST SAT MAR 3 2001

UPDATING ZONES FOR TORNADO WATCH WW 43

LOOKS TO BE AN ACTIVE DAY WITH SPC HIGHLIGHTING MOST OF MY CWA FOR A
MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER WITH THE GREATEST THREAT COMING FROM
DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS. LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS A
STATIONARY FRONT ACROSS NORTH GA EXTENDING SOUTHWEST INTO A 1000MB
SURFACE LOW IN THE NORTHWESTERN GULF SOUTH OF LAKE CHARLES. SHOWERS
AND STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE FOCUSED ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE BOUNDARY
AND A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR A PORTION OF
OUR WESTERN ZONES UNTIL 11 AM EST. LOCAL RADARS SHOW A LINE OF
STRONG STORMS MOVING RAPIDLY TO THE NORTHEAST THROUGH EXTREME SE
ALABAMA AND INTO SW GEORGIA WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS OVER THE FLORIDA
PANHANDLE. ZONES WILL BE UPDATED AS NEEDED TO RECONFIGURE AS CURRENT
WATCH EXPIRES AT 11 AM EST AND NEW WATCH(ES) ARE ISSUED.

MARINE: WINDS ARE INCREASING FROM THE SOUTH AND SCA CONDITIONS WILL
LIKELY BE OCCURRING THIS AFTERNOON. WILL MAKE MINOR ADJUSTMENTS ON
THE UPDATE.

.TLH...
AL...TORNADO WATCH 43 UNTIL 3 PM CST.
GA...NONE.
FL...TORNADO WATCH 43 UNTIL 3 PM CST FOR ALL PANHANDLE ZONES
     EXCEPT GULF.
     SCA GMZ750-755-770-775

FOR A LIST OF COMMONLY USED ACRONYMS AND CONTRACTIONS...SEE OUR WEB
PAGE AT HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TLH/TLH/CONTRACTIONS.HTML.

BARRY

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 3, 11:00 AM EST, 2 hours 45 minutes before

ALZ065>069-FLZ007>013-GMZ750-032100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
1100 AM EST SAT MAR 3 2001

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHEAST ALABAMA...
AND MUCH OF THE EASTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE...UNTIL 3 PM CST...

THIS INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN ALABAMA...COFFEE...GENEVA...DALE...HENRY...AND HOUSTON.
IN FLORIDA...WALTON...HOLMES...WASHINGTON...CALHOUN...BAY AND
JACKSON.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 45 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 15 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF GULFPORT
MISSISSIPPI TO 10 MILES NORTHEAST OF MARIANNA FLORIDA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

12-WATSON

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Coffee

When: March 3, 1:45 PM EST
Where: Coffee County, 3 mi N of Enterprise
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 31.367, -85.850

Trees down. Reported by the Coffee County Sheriff.

Flash Flood, Coffee

When: March 3, 2:00 PM EST to 3:00 PM EST
Where: Coffee County, Countywide
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 31.403, -85.988 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Water over several roads. Reported by the Coffee County Sheriff.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
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 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Alabama, March 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: 5237755, 5237756.