A frontal boundary pushed southeast into northeastern Alabama on the 28th. Dry air aloft and abundant low level moisture in place near the frontal boundary produced a slow moving severe thunderstorm.
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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 HUN wrote it up.
A frontal boundary pushed southeast into northeastern Alabama on the 28th. Dry air aloft and abundant low level moisture in place near the frontal boundary produced a slow moving severe thunderstorm. This thunderstorm proceeded to produce microburst wind damage in south central Dekalb county.
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 Jul 28, 11:20 AM CST, 3 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 1220 PM CDT MON JUL 28 2008 .UPDATE...FOR 18Z AVIATION DISCUSSION && .AVIATION... OUTSIDE OF ISO -TSRA...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL AT BOTH MSL/HSV THROUGH THE EVENING. PATCHY FOG WILL DEVELOP TONIGHT AND LINGER THROUGH EARLY MORNING...DROPPING VIS TO MVFR AT BOTH SITES...AND POSSIBLY TO IFR FOR A BRIEF PERIOD. CONDITIONS WILL GRADUALLY IMPROVE BY 14Z...AND REMAIN VFR FOR THE REST OF THE TAF PERIOD. && .DISCUSSION.../ISSUED AT 1041 AM CDT/ WHILE AN UPPER RIDGE CONTINUES TO BUILD INTO THE SE STATES...NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT IS ADVECTING IN RESIDUAL CLOUD COVER FROM AN EARLIER MCS OVER THE PLAINS. MAIN TWO QUESTIONS FOR TODAYS FORECAST REVOLVE AROUND HOW THE CLOUD COVER WILL AFFECT AFTERNOON HIGH TEMPERATURES...AND HOW BOUNDARIES WILL INTERACT ACROSS THE CWFA TO SERVE AS GENESIS FOR POSSIBLE -TSRA. TEMPERATURES SO FAR ARE RUNNING A FEW DEGREES BEHIND SCHEDULE...BUT HIGHS INTO MID 90S AREAWIDE ARE NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION AS POCKETS OF FULL SUNSHINE INFILTRATE THE AREA BETWEEN CLOUDS. WITH DEWPOINTS EXPECTED TO MIX OUT SOME TODAY...HEAT INDEX VALUES WILL CLIMB TO AROUND 100. VISIBLE SATELLITE CONTINUES TO SHOW MULTIPLE OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES EITHER OVER OR ENCROACHING UPON THE TENNESSEE VALLEY SO WILL LEAVE GOING 20 POPS FOR THE AFTERNOON...WITH THE STRONGEST STORMS CAPABLE OF GUSTY WINDS AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN. UPDATED GRIDS AND ZONES FORTHCOMING SHORTLY. && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...NONE. TN...NONE. && DISCUSSION/AVIATION...JLL
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 100 PM CDT MON JUL 28 2008 ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-291000- LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN- MARSHALL-JACKSON-DE KALB-CULLMAN-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN- 100 PM CDT MON JUL 28 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...THROUGH TONIGHT... THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH THIS EVENING. IN STRONGER STORMS...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. HOT AND HUMID WEATHER WILL CONTINUE ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY WITH ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. A COLD FRONT APPROACHING ON THURSDAY WILL BRING THE GREATEST CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE WEEK. ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CAN AGAIN BE EXPECTED ON FRIDAY. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. SS/JLL
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 331 PM CDT MON JUL 28 2008 ALZ010-282100- DE KALB- 331 PM CDT MON JUL 28 2008 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR NORTH CENTRAL DEKALB COUNTY UNTIL 400 PM CDT... AT 331 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM JUST NORTHWEST OF SHILOH. THIS STORM IS NEARLY STATIONARY. WINDS UP TO 40 MPH...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. * LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH INCLUDE... RAINSVILLE. SHILOH. SHILOH. FYFFE. GUEST. THIS THUNDERSTORM COULD INTENSIFY QUICKLY...SO BE READY TO ACT IF A WARNING IS ISSUED. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO...OR YOUR LOCAL TELEVISION STATIONS FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS CONCERNING THIS WEATHER SITUATION. KTW
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 340 PM CDT MON JUL 28 2008 ALZ010-282115- DE KALB- 340 PM CDT MON JUL 28 2008 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR DEKALB COUNTY UNTIL 415 PM CDT... AT 340 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR SHILOH...OR NEAR RAINSVILLE...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 5 MPH. PEA SIZE HAIL...WINDS UP TO 50 MPH...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. * LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH INCLUDE... FYFFE. SHILOH. RAINSVILLE. GUEST. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAINFALL IN ONE HOUR ARE POSSIBLE FROM THE THUNDERSTORM. THIS MAY RESULT IN BRIEF RUNOFF PROBLEMS AND PONDING OF WATER ON AREA ROADWAYS. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO...OR YOUR LOCAL TELEVISION STATIONS FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS CONCERNING THIS WEATHER SITUATION. KTW
The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 58 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:40 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A few utility poles were downed by thunderstorm winds at the intersection of County Roads 72 and 50, east of Fyffe.
Numberous trees were downed by thunderstorm winds in Rainsville.
A tree was downed by thunderstorm winds on County Road 52 near Peeks Corner.
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, July 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: 120665, 120666, 120669.