1 heat, 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 Jan 3, 2:38 PM CST, 22 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 238 PM CST SAT JAN 3 2004 .SYNOPSIS...WARM AND MOIST SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL CONTINUE INTO SUNDAY...RESULTING IN ABUNDANT CLOUDS...AS WELL AS OVERNIGHT AND EARLY MORNING FOG. A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE AREA SUNDAY NIGHT...AND PASS INTO GEORGIA DURING THE DAY MONDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEARLY STEADY...OR FALLING THROUGH THE DAY MONDAY...AS COOLER...MORE SEASONABLE TEMPERATURES MOVE INTO THE AREA. FAIR WEATHER WILL DOMINATE THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK...UNTIL A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM APPROACHES LATE IN THE WEEK. && .SHORT TERM...(TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY) SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL CONTINUE TO DOMINATE THE PICTURE FOR ABOUT ANOTHER 24 HOURS...BEFORE THE APPROACHING FRONT BRINGS SIGNIFICANT RAIN CHANCES. BELIEVE WELL BE LOOKING AT WIDESPREAD FOG AFTER MIDNIGHT...WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF DENSE FOG ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE BLACK BELT. THIS WILL AFFECT OVERNIGHT TEMPERATURES AGAIN...AND WILL STAY ON THE WARM SIDE IN MOST LOCATIONS. TEMPS TODAY WENT ABOVE FORECAST AND GUIDANCE VALUES FROM YESTERDAY...AS THE CL0UD DECK WASNT QUITE AS THICK AS FORECAST. WITH LONGER LASTING FOG AND LOW CLOUDS TOMORROW...WILL STICK CLOSE TO MAV NUMBERS. AGAIN...NOT CONVINCED OF THE SLIGHT CHANCE POPS TONIGHT...BUT ALSO NOT CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO OUTRIGHT ELIMINATE THEM. AS FOR THE FRONT ITSELF...MESOETA CONTINUES TO PORTRAY A VERY NARROW BAND OF PRECIP ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT...WHICH IS UNDERSTANDABLE DUE TO LACK OF DYNAMICS. THIS MAY LEAD ME TO SOME LAST MINUTE TWEAKS TO POP AND WEATHER...AND CREATE A STEEPER GRADIENT WITH THE FRONT...WHICH WILL BE MOST EVIDENT IN THE GRIDS. STILL LEANING ON ETA TIMING...6Z NORTHWEST...12Z I-59/BIRMINGHAM...AND OUT OF THE AREA LATE IN THE DAY. WITH GFS COMING MORE AND MORE IN LINE WITH ETA TIMING...IM GOING TO KEEP RIDING THAT HORSE. && .LONG TERM...(MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY) BEHIND THE FRONT... QUESTIONS REMAIN REGARDING THE VORACITY OF THE COLD AIR BEHIND THE FRONT...AS GFS HAS THE PACIFIC AIR MASS OVERCOME BY THE CONTINENTAL AIR MASS. LOOKS LIKE SKIES SHOULD CLEAR FAIRLY QUICKLY IN THE NORTH...SLOWER IN THE SOUTH. TEMPERATURES MONDAY SHOULD BE STEADY OR FALLING MOST LOCATIONS...WITH MONDAY HIGH TEMPS A MESS. I STILL HAVE SOME RESERVATION ABOUT THE SHARPLY COLDER AIR FOR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY...BUT THEN AGAIN...WITH A DEEP VORTEX IN SOUTHERN CANADA...AND LOOKING AT TEMPERATURES -20F IN THE CANADIAN PLAINS TODAY...HAVE TO ADMIT THE SCENARIO OF A SHALLOW COLD AIR MASS WORKING INTO THE SOUTH IS AT LEAST PLAUSIBLE. STILL...LOOKS LIKE THE NORTHERN BRANCH CUTS ACROSS THE MIDWEST INTO THE OHIO VALLEY...SO I WILL ONCE AGAIN TREND COLDER...BUT NOT BITE ALL THE WAY TO EXTENDED GUIDANCE. BY THURSDAY...WITH A HIGH TO THE NORTHEAST...INVERTED SURFACE TROUGH DEVELOPS OVER THE DELTA...AND AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH APPROACHES FROM THE WEST. AS LONG AS TEMPERATURES REMAIN AS FORECAST...THIS SHOULD NOT BE A PROBLEM. THIS SYSTEM PASSES ACROSS THE GULF COAST QUICKLY...WITH CLEARING INTO SATURDAY. DONT WANT TO BE TOO MUCH OF A MONGER...BUT IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE HOW THE NEXT SYSTEM EVOLVES INTO SUNDAY. && .PRELIMINARY NUMBERS... BIRMINGHAM 60 72 52 52 32 / 10 20 50 80 MONTGOMERY 58 75 58 61 36 / 00 20 20 80 && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && 81
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 100 PM CST SAT JAN 3 2004 ALZ011>015-017>050-032100- AUTAUGA-BARBOUR-BIBB-BLOUNT-BULLOCK-CALHOUN-CHAMBERS-CHEROKEE- CHILTON-CLAY-CLEBURNE-COOSA-DALLAS-ELMORE-ETOWAH-FAYETTE-GREENE-HALE- JEFFERSON-LAMAR-LEE-LOWNDES-MACON-MARENGO-MARION-MONTGOMERY-PERRY- PICKENS-PIKE-RANDOLPH-RUSSELL-SHELBY-ST CLAIR-SUMTER-TALLADEGA- TALLAPOOSA-TUSCALOOSA-WALKER-WINSTON- 100 PM CST SAT JAN 3 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE (TODAY AND TONIGHT)... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN (SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY)... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS NOT EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
The afternoon high temperature measured at the Birmingham International Airport was 72 degrees. This reading tied the previous record high which last occurred in 2000.
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, January 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: 5381778.