Thunderstorms along a cold front interacted with a gravity wave, causing a brief intensification of the storms.
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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 episode as NWS BMX wrote it up.
Thunderstorms along a cold front interacted with a gravity wave, causing a brief intensification of the storms.
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 31, 8:20 PM CST, 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 820 PM CST THU JAN 31 2008 .UPDATE...OVERNIGHT WEATHER. && .DISCUSSION... LEADING EDGE OF CONVECTIVE LINE HAS ACCELERATED EASTWARD AND ENTIRE SYSTEM IS MOVING FASTER THAN EXPECTED. THE SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN CONFINED TO EXTREME SOUTH ALABAMA...AS NORTHERN END OF LINE WAS MOVING ACROSS VERY STABLE AIR AT THE SURFACE...WHERE SURFACE BASED LIFTED INDICES ARE GREATER THAN +10 CELSIUS. PIKE AND BARBOUR COUNTIES LIKELY TO SEE STRONGEST WINDS IN OUR FORECAST AREA...BUT WITH VERY STABLE LOW LEVELS...WIND GUSTS SHOULD REMAIN BELOW 40 MPH. ANOTHER AREA OF WIND GUSTS ARE LOCATED ON BACK EDGE OF RAIN SHIELD. COLUMBUS MISSISSIPPI AND TUSCALOOSA ALABAMA BOTH REPORTED PRESSURE RISING RAPIDLY AND WIND GUSTS NEAR 25 MPH AS BACK EDGE OF RAIN APPROACHED THESE LOCATIONS. FORECAST UPDATED EARLIER BROUGHT END TO RAIN FASTER THAN AFTERNOON PACKAGE...BUT ANOTHER UPDATE WILL BE NEEDED TO END RAIN EVEN SOONER. 58/ROSE && .AVIATION...00Z TAF DISCUSSION. LET THE ACTIVITY PICK UP ACROSS THE AREA. LINE OF HEAVY RAIN AND ISOLATED LIGHTNING IS CURRENTLY ON TOP OF TCL AND WILL BE MOVING INTO BHM AND EET AROUND 1Z. MAIN CONCERN WILL STILL BE THE LOW CLOUDS AND WINDS THROUGHOUT THE NEXT 12 TO 15 HOURS. FOR THIS UPDATE WENT WITH INITIAL TIMING OF THE ONSET OF THE RAIN AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. ONE INTERESTING NOTE IS THAT AS THE RAIN BEGINS...WINDS ARE SHIFTING TO THE NORTHWEST FOR ABOUT TWO HOURS AND THEN SWITCHING BACK TO THE SOUTHEAST AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT. WENT AHEAD AND INCLUDED THIS IN THE TAFS AND WILL MONITOR TO SEE IF THE TREND CONTINUES. RAIN WILL CONTINUE BEHIND THE INITIAL LINE UNTIL THE FRONT MOVES THROUGH. OVERALL TIMING OF THE COLD FRONT AND WIND SHIFT TO THE WEST-NORTHWEST WILL BE TCL AT 6Z...BHM AND EET AT 8Z...ANB AND MGM AT 10Z AND TCL AT 11Z. WINDS WILL BEGIN TO DIMINISH FROM WEST TO EAST ABOUT 2 HOURS AFTER FROPA. WILL SEE SKIES BEGIN TO CLEAR AFTER 20 AND 21Z AS THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM ITSELF MOVES OUT. && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...LAKE WIND ADVISORY TIL 4 AM FOR ALL ZONES. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 639 PM CST THU JAN 31 2008 ALZ011>015-017>050-020039- 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- 639 PM CST THU JAN 31 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. A STORM SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO SLIDE THROUGH THE AREA DURING THE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT HOURS. STRONG STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH MIDNIGHT...GENERALLY SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 85. THE MAIN THREAT WITH THESE STORMS WILL BE WIND GUSTS UP TO 35 MPH. THERE WILL ALSO BE A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER THAT WILL EXIST FOR PIKE AND BARBOUR COUNTIES...FROM 8 PM UNTIL MIDNIGHT. THE MAIN THREAT HERE WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AS WELL AS FREQUENT LIGHTNING. IN ADDITION TO THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER...GUSTY WINDS TO 30 MPH WILL OCCUR THROUGH 4 AM. A LAKE WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. ANOTHER COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH CENTRAL ALABAMA TUESDAY. SEVERE STORMS MAY DEVELOP ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL MAY BE NECESSARY SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 85 TONIGHT. ACTIVATION MAY ALSO BE NEEDED ON TUESDAY.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 819 PM CST THU JAN 31 2008 ALZ046-048-050-010315- BARBOUR-BULLOCK-RUSSELL- 819 PM CST THU JAN 31 2008 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR BARBOUR...BULLOCK AND RUSSELL COUNTIES UNTIL 915 PM CST... AT 817 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 15 MILES NORTHEAST OF MEADVILLE TO 10 MILES SOUTH OF TROY...MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH. WINDS UP TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS. * LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH INCLUDE... HIGH RIDGE. FRANKLIN FIELD. SEDGEFIELD. BOOT HILL. THREE NOTCH. GUERRYTON. THE GUSTY WINDS WILL BE CAPABLE OF KNOCKING DOWN SMALL TREES...TREE LIMBS...AND POWERLINES. SEEK SAFE SHELTER UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED. 61
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Several trees were blown down across the county. A wind gust of 59 mph was recorded at Auburn/Opelika Airport.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, January 2008
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: 78179.