Name: Flash Flood in Alabama, November 24, 2004
Start: 2004-11-24T05:45
End: 2004-11-24T19:00
Location: Alabama

Where it happened

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.

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: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $400,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 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 Nov 24, 5:45 AM CST, 0 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 24, 5:45 AM CST, 0 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
545 AM CST WED NOV 24 2004

...UPDATE...WILL UPDATE ZONES TO REFLECT THE ISSUANCE OF THE TORNADO
WATCH 897...THE EXPIRATION OF TORNADO WATCH 895...AND TO CLEAR
BLOUNT...JEFFERSON...WALKER...FAYETTE...AND TUSCALOOSA FROM
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 896.
&&

.BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR
EASTERN AND CENTRAL PORTIONS UNTIL 9 AM CST TODAY...TORNADO WATCH
IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHEAST COUNTIES UNTIL 11 AM CST TODAY...FLOOD WATCH
IN EFFECT FOR ALL BUT SOUTHEAST COUNTIES THROUGH 6 PM CST TODAY.
&&

02
JBW

Hazardous weather outlook, Nov 23, 11:30 PM CST, 6 hours 15 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1130 PM CST TUE NOV 23 2004

ALZ011>015-017>050-241300-
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-
1130 PM CST TUE NOV 23 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM.

.DAY ONE...(OVERNIGHT)

A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL MOVE TOWARDS CENTRAL ALABAMA BRINGING A LINE
OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO THE AREA OVERNIGHT.  AS THE COLD
FRONT AND UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM MOVE CLOSER TO THE STATE...SEVERAL
FACTORS WILL COME TOGETHER TO BRING A THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
CAPABLE OF PRODUCING TORNADOES TO CENTRAL ALABAMA.

INCREASING WIND PROFILES AND UPPER LEVEL FORCING...ALONG WITH AN
UNSTABLE AIR MASS...WILL RESULT IN A SQUALL LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS
FORMING...WITH ISOLATED SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
TORNADOES.  THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO THE STATE
AROUND 2AM AND BE NEAR THE BIRMINGHAM METRO AREA AROUND 5 AM AND THEN
ACROSS EAST ALABAMA AROUND 7AM.

IN ADDITION TO THE THREAT FOR TORNADOES AND STRONG GUSTY
WINDS...HEAVY RAIN IS POSSIBLE.  WITH MANY LOCATIONS ALONG AND NORTH
OF INTERSTATE 20 HAVING RECEIVED 2 TO 4 INCHES OF RAIN ALREADY...ANY
ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN WILL RESULT IN FLASH FLOODING.  A FLOOD WATCH
WILL BE REISSUED TONIGHT FOR ALL BUT THE SOUTHEASTERN QUADRANT OF THE
FORECAST AREA.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...(WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY)

STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE IN PROGRESS WEDNESDAY MORNING
AS THE SQUALL LINE TRACKS THROUGH CENTRAL ALABAMA...AND EXITS THE
SOUTHEASTERN CORNER OF THE FORECAST AREA BY THE AFTERNOON HOURS ON
WEDNESDAY.  OTHERWISE NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS
TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

STORM SPOTTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED
TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Nov 24, 4:48 AM CST, 57 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA
548 AM CDT WED NOV 24 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0210        WIND DAMAGE     CEDAR BLUFF
11/24       PWR LNS DWN	    CHEROKEE

&&

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 74 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 11:43 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, St. Clair

When: November 24, 5:45 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: St. Clair County, Countywide
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $400,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 33.716, -86.315 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Several roads were reported covered with water and were temporarily impassable. Several area streams and creeks rose above bankfull. Doppler radar estimated widespread rain amounts of 4 to 5 inches with a few spots approaching 12 inches. A potential dam break situation developed in the afternoon. The dam eventually failed near the Friendship Community resulting in significant damage. Runoff from these storms lasted for several hours after the heaviest rains ended. A 73 year old man died when his car was swept away in the high water near Pinedale Road.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Flash Flood, St. Clair	2004-11-24	73	Male	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct

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

More

Every storm in Alabama in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Alabama, November 2004

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: 5425924.