1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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 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 Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 3, 4:25 AM CST, 1 hour 32 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 425 AM CST SAT MAR 03 2001 STRONG STORMS CURRENTLY SE OF MGM AT THIS WRITING WILL BE SKIRTING JUST SE OF OUR FLASH FLOOD WATCH AREA BUT IS PASSING THRU AN AREA THAT SHOULD BE ABLE TO TOLERATE BRIEF HEAVY RAINS. WILL MONITOR FOR SEVERE. BELIEVE THE GREATER THREAT OF FLOODING WILL BE LATER ON THIS TODAY ALONG AND NORTH OF THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY WHICH IS BETWEEN MGM AND BHM...NEWD TOWARD ATL. NOT SURE HOW MUCH ANTICEDENT RAINFALL HAS FALLEN OVER THE WATCH AREA SINCE THERE WAS A DEARTH OF RELIABLE GROUND TRUTH RAINFALL DATA YESTERDAY AND STORM TOTAL PRECIP FROM RADAR IS SUSPECT. NEVERTHELESS THE WIDESPREAD RAIN OCCURRING OVER MOST OF THE WATCH AREA NOW SHOULD SET THE STAGE. WOULD LIKE TO HAVE HELD OFF FOR A FEW MORE HOUS BUT WITH WARNINGS ALREADY IN OUR WESTERN PROXIMITY...FELT IT BEST TO GO AHEAD AND MAKE A ROUGH GUESS AT THE THREAT AREA. ROUGH GUESS BECAUSE THE MODELS ARE NOT DOING REALLY WELL AT HANDLING THE CURRENT PRECIP...ESPECIALLY THE QPF WHICH SEEMS TO BE UNIVERSALLY UNDERFORECAST. HAVE DECIDED TO RIDE WITH THE AVN FOR THE MOST PART ALTHOUGH ITS SURFACE WINDS SHOW THE FRONT TOO FAR NORTH. AT LEAST THE LI'S SHOW THE BOUNDARY PRETTY WELL. NCEP'S HEAVY RAIN AREA LOOKS LIKE AS GOOD A GUESS AS ANYTHING ELSE. BELIEVE THE SEVERE THREAT WILL REMAIN SOUTH TODAY AS THE CURRENT RAIN-COOLED BOUNDARY WILL BE TUFF TO MOVE NORTHWARD. THAT COULD CHANGE TONIGHT AS STRONG CYCLOGENISIS ALLOWS THE BOUNDARY TO PULL NORTHWARD INTO ECENTRAL AL BUT THERE IS A LOT OF UNCERTAINTLY AS TO HOW FAR AND HOW FAST. HEAVY RAIN MAY BE THE BIGGER PROBLEM FOR PLACES LIKE BHM AND ANB THIS EVENING. COLD ADVECTION WILL BE WELL UNDERWAY BEFORE DAYBREAK SUN. LINGERING CLOUDS SUN WITH THE BETTER CHANCE FOR RAIN OVER THE N AND NE. FLURRIES NE THIRD OR SO SUN NITE INTO MON. STORMS...SNOW AND NCAA HOOPS. IT MUST BE MARCH. HSV RR 057/042 048/033 037 079+6 BHM RC 061/046 053/035 041 07++4 MGM TC 072/054 061/039 049 07++3= .BHM...NONE. 07
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a home on Plum Street during the early morning hours. The house caught fire and was completely destroyed. Two adults and three children were killed as a result of the fire.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, March 2001
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: 5234646.