Alabama, 2004

Flash Flood in Alabama, September 16, 2004

September 16, 2004 · NWS MOB · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
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 Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 16, 2:32 AM CST, 2 hours 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 16, 2:32 AM CST, 2 hours 28 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
332 AM CDT THU SEP 16 2004

.SHORT TERM...RADAR INDICATES THE CENTER OF CAT 3 HURRICANE IVAN
MOVED INLAND BETWEEN FORT MORGAN AND GULF SHORES AROUND 2 AM THIS
MORNING. APPEARS BALDWIN COUNTY AND THE EXTREME WESTERN FLORIDA
PANHANDLE HAVE CAUGHT THE BRUNT OF IVAN...WITH PRELIMINARY REPORTS
INDICATING WIDESPREAD DAMAGE ACROSS MUCH OF BALDWIN ALABAMA AND
ESCAMBIA FLORIDA COUNTIES. ESCAMBIA FLORIDA COUNTY EMA HAVE REPORTED
DAMAGE SO FAR IS WORSE THAN OPAL. ESCAMBIA COUNTY ALABAMA EMA HAS
REPORTED MAJOR DAMAGE EVERYWHERE. THE CENTER OF IVAN WILL CONTINUE
TO PUSH NORTHWARD UP BALDWIN COUNTY AND THEN LIKELY UP ACROSS MONROE
AND WILCOX COUNTIES AS IT PUSHES INTO CENTRAL ALABAMA BY MID
AFTERNOON. STRONGEST WINDS AND HEAVIEST RAINS WILL CONTINUE TO BE
JUST AHEAD AND EAST OF THIS PATH. A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS POSTED
FOR THE ALABAMA AND NW FLORIDA COASTAL COUNTIES THIS MORNING. WILL
CONTINUE WITH THE INLAND HURRICANE WARNING FOR THE SW ALABAMA
COUNTIES TODAY...BUT LOWER THE SE MISSISSIPPI COUNTIES TO AN INLAND
TROPICAL STORM WARNING. THE FLOOD WATCH WILL REMAIN POSTED AS HEAVY
RAINBANDS CONTINUE TO PRODUCE 1 TO 2 INCH PER HOUR RAINFALL AMOUNTS.
SEE HOURLY SHORT TERM FORECAST FOR CONTINUED UPDATES ON THREATS
ASSOCIATED WITH IVAN AS IT PUSHES NORTHWARD ACROSS THE AREA. EXPECT
DECREASING WINDS AND RAIN CHANCES TONIGHT THRU EARLY FRIDAY WITH A
DRYING TREND ON TAP BY THE WEEKEND AS DRIER AIR FILTERS SOUTHWARD IN
THE WAKE OF IVAN.

&&

.MARINE...HURRICANE FORCE WINDS WILL PERSIST OVER MOBILE BAY AND
THE NEAR SHORE WATERS THIS MORNING...WITH TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS
FURTHER OFFSHORE. WILL HOLD ONTO TROPICAL STORM FORCE WIND CONDITIONS
THIS AFTERNOON THRU THIS EVENING...THEN SUBSIDING TO SCA CONDITIONS
AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. WINDS AND SEAS CONTINUE TO DIMINISH ON
FRIDAY WITH SCA  CONDITIONS PROBABLY DROPPED BY FRIDAY EVENING. THE
LIGHT TO MODERATE OFFSHORE FLOW WILL PREVAIL FOR THE REMAINDER OF
THE PERIOD.

&&

.PRELIMINARY TEMPS / POPS...
MOBILE     83 73 90 70 / 99 60 10 10
PENSACOLA  82 74 88 71 / 99 60 20 10
DESTIN     81 75 86 74 / 99 60 20 10
EVERGREEN  82 71 88 67 / 99 60 30 10
WAYNESBORO 83 71 92 65 / 99 60 10 10
CAMDEN     82 71 86 66 / 99 80 30 10

&&

.MOB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
AL...HURRICANE WARNING MOBILE AND BALDWIN AND COASTAL WATERS.
     INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING ALZ051>060.
     FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT ALZ051>064.
FL...HURRICANE WARNING FLZ001>006.
     FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FLZ001>006.
MS...INLAND TROPICAL STORM WIND WARNING MSZ067-075-076-078-079.
     FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT MSZ067-075-076-078-079.

&&

39/12

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 114 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 10:57 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Escambia

When
September 16, 5:00 AM CST to 6:00 AM CST
Where
Escambia County, West Portion
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
31.126, -87.162 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

As Hurricane Ivan was moving inland, a band of very heavy rainfall developed near and east of the center . Radar estimated that four to six inches of rain fell in a one hour period across the area. This caused most of the roads in the west part of the county to flood. This was in addition to the high winds that were blowing trees down. As the storm moved north, the water drained off the roads.

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 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, September 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: 5422229.