Flash Flooding in Alabama, January 24, 2002

Name: Flash Flooding in Alabama, January 24, 2002
Start: 2002-01-24T06:00
End: 2002-01-24T06:00
Location: Alabama

January 24, 2002 · NWS BMX · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Rainfall continued across parts of northwest Alabama for a second day in a row. Radar estimated rain amounts as high as 3 inches.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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: $155,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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 BMX wrote it up.

Rainfall continued across parts of northwest Alabama for a second day in a row. Radar estimated rain amounts as high as 3 inches. Additional rainfall on already saturated ground quickly caused flooding. Numerous roads across all of these counties were flooded and impassable. Many of the roadways received moderate damage which included bridge damage, sinkhole development, and road surface damage. Many cross drains and side drains were damaged by the high, rushing water. Six homes in Lauderdale County were flooded but no injuries were reported. One home in Colbert County was flooded and received driveway damage.

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 Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 24, 2:10 AM CST, 3 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 24, 2:10 AM CST, 3 hours 50 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL
210 AM CST THU JAN 24 2002

A SURFACE LOW PRESSURE CENTER WAS SITUATED IN SOUTHERN INDIANA
EARLY THIS MORNING.  AN ASSOCIATED...STRONG...COLD FRONT EXTENDED
FROM THIS LOW THROUGH ARKANSAS AND INTO EAST TEXAS.  THUNDERSTORM
ACTIVITY WAS PREVALENT ALONG THIS COLD FRONT AND THIS ACTIVITY
IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO NORTH ALABAMA BEFORE NOONTIME AND OVER-
SPREAD THE FORECAST AREA DURING THE AFTERNOON.

ALREADY SATURATED GROUND ACROSS MUCH OF NORTH AND NORTH-CENTRAL
ALABAMA THIS MORNING AND...FLOODING IN PARTS OF NORTH ALABAMA
YESTERDAY...WILL INCREASE THREAT OF ADDITIONAL FLOODING FROM THE
RAINFALL ACTIVITY THAT IS EXPECTED TODAY.  FFA FOR THURSDAY AND
THURSDAY NIGHT STILL LOOKS LIKE A GOOD BET.

HEAVY RAINFALL APPEARS MOST LIKELY TO OCCUR IN THE AFTERNOON
HOURS ACROSS NORTH AND NORTH-CENTRAL ALABAMA.  THEN AS THE COLD
FRONT MOVES SOUTH OF THE FORECAST AREA THIS EVENING...RAINFALL
INTENSITY SHOULD DIMINISH SOMEWHAT...ENDING ALL TOGETHER FRIDAY
MORNING.

MODEL 24 RAINFALL ESTIMATES FOR THURSDAY RANGE FROM 1.5 TO 2.5
INCHES IN THE NORTHWEST TO .5 TO 1 INCH IN THE SOUTHEAST PORTION OF
THE FORECAST AREA.  PARTS OF NORTHWEST ALABAMA HAVE ALREADY SEEN
RAINFALL AMOUNTS NEAR 3 INCHES YESTERDAY SO THIS ADDITIONAL RAINFALL
COULD POSE A REAL PROBLEM AS ALREADY SWOLLEN RIVERS AND CREEKS
ATTEMPT TO DEAL WITH THE ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN.

CONVECTIVE INDICES SUCH AS CAPE AND LI ARE NOT OVERLY IMPRESSIVE IN
ANY OF THE MODELS THIS MORNING.  THE MORE VIGOROUS UPPER LEVEL
DYNAMICS ARE WELL WEST OF THE AREA.  DEW POINTS WILL BE IN THE
MID AND UPPER 60S AND LIFTED INDICES FROM -1 TO -3 ALONG THE
FRONTAL BOUNDARY SO ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT OUT OF THE
QUESTION.

CURRENT FORECAST APPEARS SOLID...SO WONT MAKE ANY MAJOR
ADJUSTMENTS MAY BACK OFF PRECIP CHANCES A BIT ON FRIDAY.
OTHERWISE...EXPECT A NICE WET THURSDAY AFTERNOON

.BMX...
AL...FLASH FLOOD WATCH ALZ001>027-030>032-034.

HSV TE 067/041 052/042 060 77+72
BHM TE 071/046 055/044 064 77+84
MGM CC 076/054 060/048 065 77485

.BHM...NONE.

77

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Lauderdale

When: January 24, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Lauderdale County, Countywide
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.901, -87.654 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Colbert

When: January 24, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Colbert County, Countywide
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.700, -87.805 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Franklin

When: January 24, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Franklin County, Countywide
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.442, -87.844 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Lawrence

When: January 24, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Lawrence County, Countywide
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.522, -87.311 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Limestone

When: January 24, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Limestone County, Countywide
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.810, -86.981 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Alabama, January 2002

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: 5279998, 5279999, 5280000, 5280001, 5280064.