A weak cold front pushed into northern Alabama during the afternoon hours, resulting in widely scattered strong to severe thunderstorms developing. One of these storms produced a damaging microburst in the Waterloo, Alabama area.
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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 weak cold front pushed into northern Alabama during the afternoon hours, resulting in widely scattered strong to severe thunderstorms developing. One of these storms produced a damaging microburst in the Waterloo, Alabama area.
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 5, 6:15 PM CST, 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 715 PM CDT SAT JUL 5 2008 .UPDATE... UPDATED FOR 00Z TAFS. && .AVIATION... SCT SHRA/TSRA WILL CONTINUE TO IMPACT NORTHERN AL OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS. VFR CONDITIONS WILL ARE EXPECTED THIS EVENING AT BOTH SITES...BUT CANNOT RULE OUT MVFR CONDITIONS OCCURRING LOCALLY AT KMSL BETWEEN 00Z AND 02Z DUE TO A TSRA. AFTER MIDNIGHT...MVFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED AT KMSL BY 06Z AND ARE POSSIBLE AT KHSV BY 09Z DUE TO REDUCED VIS AND LOWER CIGS THROUGH 13Z. IFR CONDITIONS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE AT KMSL BETWEEN 08Z AND 12Z DUE TO LOW STRATUS/PATCHY FOG. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 159 PM CDT SAT JUL 5 2008/ DISCUSSION... UNSETTLED PATTERN WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS AS THE CWFA REMAINS GENERALLY UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF WARM AND MOIST SOUTHERLY FLOW WITH THE MAIN JET STREAM WELL TO OUR NORTH. FIRST QUESTION IN THE FORECAST IS TONIGHT...AND IF THE MAIN MOISTURE TRANSPORT WILL REMAIN JUST TO THE SOUTHWEST OF CWFA AS PROGGED BY GFS. WHILE OBVIOUSLY DIURNAL SHRA/TSRA HAS EXPANDED OVER A LARGE PART OF THE TENNESSEE VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON...EXPECT IT TO DIMINISH WITH LOSS OF DAYTIME HEATING...AND THEN THE BULK OF THE SYNOPTIC PRECIPITATION WILL REMAIN SOUTH AHEAD OF UPPER DIVERGENCE/SHORTWAVE SINKING INTO THE AREA FROM THE NORTHWEST ALONG AXIS OF 25KT H85 NORTHWEST FLOW. FORECAST SOUNDINGS FROM BOTH THE NAM/GFS DEPICT A STOUT LOW LEVEL INVERSION WITH RATHER SWAMPY BOUNDARY LAYER CONDITIONS DEVELOPING AFTER MIDNIGHT...SO ADDED PATCHY FOG TO ALL AREAS OF THE CWFA...ALTHOUGH IT WILL BE LOCALLY ENHANCED IN AREAS THAT RECEIVE SHRA/TSRA. ON SUNDAY...CLOSED H5 LOW OVER THE CENTRAL APPALACHIANS GRADUALLY SHIFTS TO THE EAST AND A SECOND SHORTWAVE PIVOTS ACROSS ALABAMA DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. AFTERNOON SOUNDINGS FROM KMSL/HSV SHOW CONSIDERABLY LOWER PWATS THAN THIS AFTERNOON...AOB 1.25IN. SHEAR IS LOW...BUT BRIEF GUSTY WINDS ARE STILL A POSSIBILITY DURING THE PEAK HEATING HOURS. BY SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY...CWFA MAY SEE INTRUSION OF SLIGHTLY MORE DRY AIR AS STRONGEST H85 FLOW REMAINS TO THE WEST OF ALABAMA/TENNESSEE AHEAD OF SYSTEM DEVELOPING OVER THE PLAINS. KEPT POPS PRETTY LOW FOR THIS TIME FRAME...WITH ONLY A SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFTERNOON SHRA/TSRA ON MONDAY. INCREASED RAIN CHANCES ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AHEAD OF WEAK FRONT/TROUGH SAGGING SOUTH FROM PARENT LOW TRAVERSING THE GREAT LAKES. THIS FRONT WILL STALL JUST NORTH OF THE CWFA ON THURSDAY...SO WILL MAINTAIN CHANCE TSRA THROUGH THE DAY. AS THE FRONT RETREATS NORTHWARD AS A WARM FRONT ON THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY...AND H5 RIDGING RETROGRADES INTO THE SE STATES...SOME OF THE MAIN MOISTURE FLOW SHOULD BE CUT OFF FROM THE TENNESSEE VALLEY BY THE WEEKEND...BUT ENOUGH WILL REMAIN THAT AFTERNOON/EVENING TSRA ARE WARRANTED IN THE FORECAST THROUGH SATURDAY. && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...NONE. TN...NONE. && AVIATION...AMP PREV DISCUSSION...JLL
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 700 PM CDT SAT JUL 5 2008 ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-060500- LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN- MARSHALL-JACKSON-DE KALB-CULLMAN-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN- 700 PM CDT SAT JUL 5 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT... SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE MAINLY BEFORE MIDNIGHT. SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BE STRONG WITH WINDS GUSTS UP OF 40 TO 50 MPH...SMALL HAIL...AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS. HOWEVER...STORMS SHOULD DIMINISH IN STRENGTH AFTER SUNSET. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY... THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL REMAIN A POSSIBILITY INTO SUNDAY NIGHT AS AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVES THROUGH THE REGION. A FEW STORMS MAY AGAIN BECOME CAPABLE OF PRODUCING GUSTY WINDS SUNDAY AFTERNOON. A TYPICAL SUMMERTIME PATTERN WILL TAKE SHAPE FOR MUCH OF THE UPCOMING WORK WEEK...WITH SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING EACH AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A FEW STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS CANNOT BE RULED OUT DURING THIS PERIOD...BUT WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. SL
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 532 PM CDT SAT JUL 5 2008 ALZ001-052300- LAUDERDALE- 532 PM CDT SAT JUL 5 2008 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR LAUDERDALE COUNTY UNTIL 600 PM CDT... AT 530 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LEXINGTON MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH. PEA SIZE HAIL AND WINDS UP TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. * LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH INCLUDE... CENTER STAR. KINGTOWN. WHITEHEAD. SEEK SHELTER AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO...OR YOUR LOCAL TELEVISION STATIONS FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS CONCERNING THIS WEATHER SITUATION. SL
The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 116 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:19 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A severe thunderstorm knocked down trees and power lines along county road 14 near the Wright community.
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: 111986.