3 flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 Huntsville, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 5, 2:26 PM CST, 6 hours 14 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 226 PM CST THU FEB 5 2004 .DISCUSSION... SFC LOW OVER SW MS WITH A WARM FRONT EXTENDING THRU CENTRAL MS/AL. TEMPS ARND NRN AL IN THE LOW/MID 40S WITH 60 JUST TO OUR SOUTH IN TUSCALOOSA. AT 5H BIG CLOSED LOW OVER WRN KS WITH GOOD SW FLOW. AT 8H 60/70 KNOTS WINDS HELPING TO PUMP TONS OF MOISTURE INTO AL. HAD SEVERAL REPORTS OF DOWN TREES/POWERLINES THIS MRNG IN THE HUN AREA. ALSO SEVERAL REPORTS OF ROADS CLOSED IN WRN AL DUE TO FLOODING. BOTTOM LINE WILL KEEP FLOOD WATCH GOING THRU TONIGHT...EXPECTING CURRENT HEAVY RAIN NOW OVER WRN AL TO SLOWLY MOVE EAST OVERNIGHT. AS FOR THE WIND ADVISORY WILL KEEP IT GOING THRU MIDNIGHT. THE TRICK TONIGHT IS WHAT WILL THE TEMPS DO. AS LOW HEADS NE SHOULD DRAG A WARM FRONT THRU THE CWA. THIS SHOULD RAISE TEMPS INTO THE 50S TONIGHT. THEN ANOTHER PROBLEM IS WHEN WILL FRONT MOVE THRU CWA FRIDAY MORNING...ETA IS SLOWER AND GFS. WILL GO WITH THE GFS FOR THIS FCST DUE TO CURRENT RADAR TRENDS AND SINCE THE RAIN CAME IN EARLIER THAN ETA SHOWED. HIGHS FRIDAY WILL BE IN THE MORNING THEN SLOWLY DROPPING INTO 40S BY AFTERNOON. WILL KEEP CHANCE POPS FOR FRIDAY MORNING. THEN WRAP ARND PCPN CONTINUES FOR FRIDAY NIGHT...BUT ENDING IN FLURRIES AFTER MIDNIGHT FRIDAY. 1310/1540 THICKNESS VALUES AND 8H TEMPS ALL SHOWS COLD ENOUGH FOR SNOW ON SATURDAY BUT WITH LIMITED MOISTURE ONLY FLURRIES ARE EXPECTED...ALSO VERY COLD SATURDAY. OTHERWISE SATURDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY SHOULD BE DRY...WITH NEXT SYSTEM BRINGING ANOTHER ROUND RAIN ON TUESDAY...KEPT WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY DRY. OVERALL MADE ONLY MINOR CHANGES TO CURRENT FCST. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... HUNTSVILLE 53 53 28 35 / 100 40 20 10 SHOALS 54 54 27 34 / 100 30 20 10 CULLMAN 56 56 30 37 / 100 40 20 10 FAYETTEVILLE 52 52 25 33 / 100 40 20 10 FT PAYNE 52 52 26 34 / 100 50 20 10 && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...WIND ADVISORY THROUGH MIDNIGHT. FLOOD WATCH ALL OF NRN AL TONIGHT. TN...WIND ADVISORY THROUGH MIDNIGHT. FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT. && SHUMWAY
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 115 PM CST THU FEB 5 2004 ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-060330- COLBERT-CULLMAN-DE KALB-FRANKLIN AL-FRANKLIN TN-JACKSON-LAUDERDALE- LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-LINCOLN-MADISON-MARSHALL-MOORE-MORGAN- 115 PM CST THU FEB 5 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA AND PARTS OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...(THROUGH TONIGHT)... A STRENGTHENING STORM SYSTEM OVER THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY WILL MOVE NORTHEASTWARD THROUGH TONIGHT. THIS SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO TRIGGER A BAND OF MODERATE...TO OCCASIONALLY HEAVY RAINFALL OVER NORTHWEST ALABAMA THIS AFTERNOON...WHICH WILL PROGRESS EASTWARD AND AFFECT THE REMAINDER OF THE TENNESSEE VALLEY THROUGH DAYBREAK FRIDAY. THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE IN COVERAGE ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT HOURS...ADDING TO THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAIN. THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE FLASH FLOODING...PRIMARILY IN AREAS WEST OF INTERSTATE 65 THIS AFTERNOON...AND AFFECTING THE WHOLE AREA TONIGHT. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF AROUND TWO INCHES ARE EXPECTED IN MOST AREAS...WITH ISOLATED THREE INCH TOTALS POSSIBLE. PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST ALABAMA...MAINLY WEST OF A ROGERSVILLE TO PHIL CAMPBELL LINE...HAVE RECEIVED THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL SO FAR...AND THESE LOCATIONS WILL HAVE THE GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR FLASH FLOODING THROUGH 6 PM. THE POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED FLASH FLOODING WILL GRADUALLY SPREAD EASTWARD...AFFECTING AREAS EAST OF INTERSTATE 65 THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. STRONG...GUSTY SOUTHEAST WINDS WILL ALSO PERSIST ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. WIND SPEEDS MAY REACH 30 MPH AT TIMES...WHICH MAY COMBINE WITH THE WET SOIL TO TOPPLE A FEW ADDITIONAL TREES ACROSS THE AREAS. A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT THROUGH MIDNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...(FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY)... MOST OF THE WIDESPREAD RAIN WILL DEPART THE AREA EARLY FRIDAY...BUT SOME RESIDUAL FLOODING PROBLEMS MAY BE POSSIBLE EARLY IN THE DAY. COLD AIR BEHIND THE STORM...COUPLED WITH LEFT OVER MOISTURE... WILL BRING THE POSSIBILITY FOR FLURRIES FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL MAY BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT TO DEAL WITH THE POTENTIAL FLOODING AND ISOLATED DOWNED TREES. JTB
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
648 PM CST THU FEB 05 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0516 PM NON-TSTM WND DMG MUSCLE SHOALS 34.75N 87.64W
02/05/2004 COLBERT AL CO-OP OBSERVER
A 20 TO 30 FOOT TREE FELL ON A MOTOR HOME IN THE MUSLCE
SHOALS AREA.
0516 PM FLASH FLOOD MUSCLE SHOALS 34.75N 87.64W
02/05/2004 COLBERT AL AMATEUR RADIO
FLOODNG OCCURING IN OBRIANS RESTUARANT IN FORD CITY
&&
KTWThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flooding occurring county wide with several roads closed due to high flood water over a foot in many places.
Flooding occurring county wide with water covering several roads at least a foot with several roads closed.
Flooding occurring with two roads closed near Hanceville to just west of Dodge City.
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, February 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: 5383281, 5383282, 5383283.