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 Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 30, 2:12 AM CST, 10 hours 18 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 312 AM CDT MON AUG 30 2004 SHORT TERM...00Z SURFACE AND UPPER AIR CHARTS SHOW PERSISTENT UPPER TROUGH TO THE WEST OF THE CWA WITH A SURFACE COLD FRONT FROM NW MS TO NORTHERN GEORGIA. DEFORMATION FIELD BROUGHT ON PARTIALLY BY THE REMNANTS OF T.S. GASTON PUTS A LITTLE IMPETUS INTO THIS OTHERWISE STUNTED AND LETHARGIC FEATURE. OMEGA FIELDS HOWEVER ARE INDICATING RATHER A FLAT APPEARANCE FOR SUCH A SCENE BUT WOULD STILL EXPECT A PRETTY ACTIVE SEA BREEZE THIS AFTERNOON WITH MOST OF THE CONVECTION ALONG THE SEA BREEZE FRONT AS IT HAS BEEN THESE PAST DAYS. EXPECT THIS ACTIVITY TO CONTINUE THROUGH SUNSET SO THE RISK OF A MEASURABLE SPRINKLE IS SUFFICIENT TO WARRANT A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN THROUGH MIDNIGHT. DECREASING WATER VAPOR CONTENT AFTER TONIGHT IS EVIDENT...GOING FROM ABOUT 2.2 TO ABOUT 1.5...AND STAYS LIKE THIS UNTIL THE GULF REOPENS AROUND MIDWEEK. REBOUNDING POPS REFLECTED. WILL STAY CLOSE TO GUIDANCE ON TEMPS AS WELL. NEAR TERM ENSEMBLES ARE PRETTY SCATTERED DUE TO THE TREATMENT OF THE FRONT AND DAYTIME POPS VARY FROM 30 TO 50 PERCENT. LATER ON THIS WEEK THEY SETTLE INTO A SUMMERTIME ZIGZAG REGIME THROUGH 6 SEPT...WITH NO SIGNAL ONE WOULD EXPECT FROM A TROPICAL DISTURBANCE. ACCORDINGLY...CONFIDENCE PRETTY HIGH MAINTAINING A PORTAIT OF A PERSISTENT DIURNAL CYCLE IN THE FORECAST. AS WITH JAN...WE ARE CONSIDERING THE POSSIBILITY OF BEING IN THE SUBSIDENCE OF OFFHORE FLOW THE WESTERN PERIPHERY OF FRANCES. && .EXTENDED...NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES WARRANTED. ANOTHER SHORTWAVE MOVING INTO THE MIDWEST COULD REINFORCE A WETTER PATTERN AND COULD ALSO INFLUENCE THE TRACK OF HURRICANE FRANCES BUT EFFECTS OF THAT SYSTEM...IF ANY...IS WAY TOO UNCERTAIN A PROSPECT THIS FAR IN ADVANCE. DISCUSSION AMONG US CITES THE POSSIBILITY OF THE BIG HIGH WEAKENING IN ADVANCE OF THE AFOREMENTIONED TROUGH LEAVING AN OPENING FOR RECURVATURE TO THE NORTHEAST. TIS SIMPLY TOO EARLY TO TELL. && .MARINE...NOCTURNAL COOLING HAS ALLOWED AN ONSHORE BREEZE TO FORM AHEAD OF THE FRONT...WITH KMOB RADAR DETECTING AN INCREASING TREND IN THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY OVER THE NEAR SHORE ZONES. MODEL CONSENSUS HAS THE FRONT MOVING SOUTHWARD THIS MORNING OVER THE COASTAL WATERS... BEFORE RETREATING NORTH WITH A DEVELOPING SEA BREEZE. THE ONSHORE/OFFSHORE OSCILLATION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH MID WEEK. && .PRELIMINARY TEMPS / POPS... MOBILE 89 71 88 71 / 30 10 20 10 PENSACOLA 88 74 88 74 / 30 10 20 10 DESTIN 88 75 88 75 / 30 10 20 10 EVERGREEN 89 68 88 68 / 30 10 20 10 WAYNESBORO 89 67 89 67 / 20 10 20 10 CAMDEN 89 68 88 67 / 30 10 20 10 && .MOB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...NONE. FL...NONE. MS...NONE. && 77
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 500 AM CDT MON AUG 30 2004 ALZ051>064-FLZ001>006-MSZ067-075-076-078-079-301646- BALDWIN COASTAL-BALDWIN INLAND-BUTLER-CHOCTAW-CLARKE-CONECUH- COVINGTON-CRENSHAW-ESCAMBIA-ESCAMBIA COASTAL-ESCAMBIA INLAND-GEORGE- GREENE-MOBILE COASTAL-MOBILE INLAND-MONROE-OKALOOSA COASTAL- OKALOOSA INLAND-PERRY-SANTA ROSA COASTAL-SANTA ROSA INLAND-STONE- WASHINGTON-WAYNE-WILCOX- 500 AM CDT MON AUG 30 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND THE EXTREME WESTERN PORTION OF THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING THIS AFTERNOON MAY BRING WIND GUSTS BETWEEN 25 AND 35 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTING. OTHERWISE...NO WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGERS IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 117 PM CDT MON AUG 30 2004 ALZ059-062-FLZ001-301900- UPPER BALDWIN-ESCAMBIA-INLAND ESCAMBIA- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...BAY MINETTE... 117 PM CDT MON AUG 30 2004 ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM IS BEING DETECTED OVER ESCAMBIA AND BALDWIN COUNTIES... AT 111 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM 3 MILES SOUTH OF NOKOMIS. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS NEARLY STATIONARY. THE THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT AREAS IN AND AROUND... BRATT...PHILLIPSVILLE AND WALNUT HILL THROUGH 200 PM CDT. THE PRIMARY THREATS FROM THIS STORM ARE SMALL HAIL...DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING... AND WIND GUSTS OF 35 TO 45 MPH...WHICH COULD DOWN SMALL TREE LIMBS OR BRANCHES AND BLOW AROUND UNSECURED SMALL OBJECTS. SEEK SHELTER IN A SAFE HOME OR BUILDING UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED. THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THIS STORM WILL ALLOW PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS AND IN LOW-LYING AREAS.
The Mobile radar (KMOB), 4 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:31 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck near a male who was walking back to his vehicle after visiting a convenience store. The strike knocked him to the ground. He was taken to a local hospital, examined and later released.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, August 2004
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: 5417535.