On the morning of June 27th, strong to severe thunderstorms formed along multiple pre-frontal boundaries ahead of a slow moving cold front over northern Tennessee. As these rounds of thunderstorm activity moved southeast, several rounds of heavy rainfall occurred west of interstate 65.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
On the morning of June 27th, strong to severe thunderstorms formed along multiple pre-frontal boundaries ahead of a slow moving cold front over northern Tennessee. As these rounds of thunderstorm activity moved southeast, several rounds of heavy rainfall occurred west of interstate 65. Several flash flooding ocurrences and heavy rainfall totals were a result across northwestern Alabama before the cold front pushed south of the area on the morning of the 28th. Scattered damaging winds also occured with these severe 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 Huntsville, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 26, 7:00 PM CST, 0 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 800 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2008 .DISCUSSION... ROUND ONE OF STORMS HAVE WEAKENED AND ARE NOW ON THE SOUTHERN PERIPHERY OF THE FORECAST AREA. ROUND TWO HAS BEEN DEVELOPING OFF TO OUR NORTH AND WEST IN ASSOCIATION WITH ANOTHER SHORTWAVE...AND IT LOOKS INCREASINGLY LIKELY THIS ACTIVITY WILL GET INTO AT LEAST OUR NORTHERN AND WESTERN AREAS TONIGHT. HOW FAR INTO THE AREA IT GETS REMAINS TO BE SEEN. HOWEVER...SINCE MOST AREAS SHOULD MEASURE PRECIP EITHER FROM ROUND ONE OR ROUND TWO...HAVE RAISED POPS TO CATEGORICAL AND WILL USE PERIODS OF WORDING IN THE GRIDS/ZONES. THE SEVERE THREAT HOWEVER APPEARS TO BE OVER. COULD SEE SOME GUSTY WINDS IN STORMS THOUGH. WILL CONTINUE TO CARRY LIKELY POPS AFTER MIDNIGHT...BUT ONCE THE NEXT AREA OF PRECIP GETS CLOSER TO THE REGION...THAT POP MAY BE ABLE TO BE LOWERED. FOR WHAT IT IS WORTH...THE SHORT TERM LAMP GUIDANCE DOES HAVE 50-60 POPS ACROSS THE AREA AFTER MIDNIGHT...FAVORING THE PERIOD AFTER 09Z THOUGH...WHEN MODELS ARE SHOWING YET ANOTHER ROUND OF RAIN DEVELOPING. GENERALLY FOLLOWED THE LAMP GUIDANCE...ESPECIALLY FOR TEMP/DEWPOINT VALUES WHERE NONE OF THE OTHER MODELS (INCLUDING OTHER SHORT TERM ONES) HAVE A CLUE AT THIS POINT. ALSO WITH LIGHT WINDS EXPECTED OUTSIDE OF THUNDERSTORMS...PATCHY FOG LOOKS LIKE A LIKELIHOOD...AND WILL ADD THIS TO THE GRIDS AFTER MIDNIGHT. IF THE RAIN ENDS ENTIRELY...I MIGHT NEED TO RAISE THE WORDING TO AREAS OF FOG. SOME DENSE FOG IS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION. ALTHOUGH I AM OMITTING THE PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...DO WANT TO RAISE AWARENESS THAT MORE RAIN AND STORMS ARE EXPECTED TOMORROW AND WEDNESDAY. RIGHT NOW...TUES NIGHT/WEDNESDAY LOOK LIKE THE BEST TIME PERIOD BUT I WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED FOR TOMORROW AFTERNOON TO END UP A LOT LIKE THIS AFTERNOON. FIRST UPDATE WILL BE ISSUED SHORTLY. ANOTHER UPDATE IS LIKELY LATER TONIGHT AS THE SITUATION CONTINUES TO EVOLVE. && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...NONE. TN...NONE. && JE/23
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 358 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2008 ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-270500- LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN- MARSHALL-JACKSON-DE KALB-CULLMAN-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN- 358 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT... A LINE OF STORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE TENNESSEE VALLEY EARLY THIS EVENING...SOME STORMS WILL BE STRONG TO SEVERE. WIND GUSTS AROUND 60 MPH...HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF PENNIES AND VERY HEAVY RAIN CAN BE EXPECTED. THE STORMS WILL BEGIN TO DIMINISH AFTER 8 PM. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... A COLD FRONT WILL SAG SOUTH TOWARD THE CENTRAL TENNESSEE VALLEY ON TUESDAY...WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. A FEW OF THESE STORMS COULD BE STRONG...WITH BRIEF GUSTY WINDS...SMALL HAIL...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL RETURN TO THE FORECAST AREA ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY AS A WEAK COLD FRONT MOVES ACROSS THE TENNESSEE VALLEY. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
537 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0340 PM TSTM WND DMG TUSCUMBIA 34.73N 87.71W
05/26/2008 COLBERT AL EMERGENCY MNGR
POWER LINES DOWN ON HWY 72 WEST OF HWY 43. TREES AND
POWER LINES ALSO DOWN IN TUSCUMBIA.
&&
MPPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
541 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0520 PM HAIL 3 NE STEVENSON 34.90N 85.80W
05/26/2008 M0.75 INCH JACKSON AL MESONET
COCORAH OBSERVER REPORTS PENNY SIZE HAIL
&&
MPSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 548 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2008 ALZ001-270000- LAUDERDALE- 548 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2008 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR LAUDERDALE COUNTY UNTIL 700 PM CDT... AT 548 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A SERIES OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN MOVING ACROSS EASTERN LAUDERDALE COUNTY. ONE TO TWO INCHES OF RAINFALL HAS ALREADY OCCURRED ACROSS EASTERN LAUDERDALE COUNTY...MAINLY EAST OF FLORENCE. AN ADDITIONAL ONE TO TWO INCHES OF RAIN IS LIKELY. THIS COULD CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS...FLOODING OF LOW LYING AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS...AND MAYBE SOME STREET FLOODING IN FLORENCE. * LOCATIONS AFFECTED INCLUDE... SAINT FLORIAN. KILLEN. CENTER STAR. ELGIN. KINGTOWN. FLORENCE. ANDERSON. A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MAY BE REQUIRED IF ADDITIONAL RAINFALL DEVELOPS BEHIND THE CURRENT STORMS...OR IF THE RAINFALL CURRENTLY SHOWN INTENSIFIES. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO...OR YOUR LOCAL TELEVISION STATIONS FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS CONCERNING THIS WEATHER SITUATION. JE
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
549 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0515 PM HEAVY RAIN TOWN CREEK 34.68N 87.41W
05/26/2008 E0.00 INCH LAWRENCE AL EMERGENCY MNGR
MINOR STREET FLOODING IN TOWN CREEK
&&
MPPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
558 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0515 PM HEAVY RAIN TOWN CREEK 34.68N 87.41W
05/26/2008 U0.00 INCH LAWRENCE AL EMERGENCY MNGR
MINOR STREET FLOODING IN TOWN CREEK
&&
MPSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 614 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2008 ALZ003-270030- FRANKLIN- 614 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2008 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR FRANKLIN COUNTY ALABAMA UNTIL 730 PM CDT... AT 614 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN MOVING ACROSS THE COUNTY. ONE TO TWO INCHES OF RAINFALL HAS ALREADY OCCURRED NEAR ROCKWOOD AND IN EXTREME NORTHWESTERN FRANKLIN COUNTY. AN ADDITIONAL ONE TO TWO INCHES OF RAIN IS LIKELY. THIS COULD CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS...AND FLOODING OF LOW LYING AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS ALSO EXPECTED. * LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH INCLUDE... HALLTOWN. DEMPSEY. BELGREEN. DUKETON. ROCKWOOD. SPRUCE PINE. RUSSELLVILLE. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO...OR YOUR LOCAL TELEVISION STATIONS FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS CONCERNING THIS WEATHER SITUATION. JE
The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 91 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:58 UTC.
12 flash flood, 9 thunderstorm wind, 5 heavy rain, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Rainfall total beginning Monday night through 927 PM on Tuesday night was measured to be 6.09 inches east of Allsboro.
Almost 11 inches of rainfall (10.90 inches) occurred starting Monday night and ending Tuesday night at 9:27 PM CST. The rainfall was reported by the public in Rogersville and relayed to NWS Huntsville via a local media outlet.
Training thunderstorms produced 5.66 inches of rainfall just southeast of the Wright community. This rainfall total was from Monday night through 927 PM on Tuesday night.
At the Courtland historical climate network site, 4.84 inches of rainfall was recorded beginning Monday night and ending at 9:30 PM.
Almost four and one third inches(4.27 inches) of rainfall was measured beginning Monday night and ending at 930 PM on Tuesday evening in the Hodges community.
A severe thunderstorm downed a tree at the intersection of Alabama Highway 207 and county road 55 near Anderson.
Severe thunderstorm winds blew down a tree onto a mobile home and a car in the Chalybeate Springs community. Pea size hail was also reported with this storm.
Severe thunderstorm winds downed a utility pole across a driveway at 1400 County Road 533.
Severe thunderstorm winds downed a tree, which fell on a power line in Green Hill near Rogers High School.
Slow moving thunderstorms across the area produced flash flooding with two feet of water reported over the road.
Heavy rainfall and resulting flash flooding caused county road 298 to be closed.
Torrential rainfall inundated the area of downtown Rogersville along and near Lee Street. Here, several inches of water was reported over roadways and water rose over sidewalks and entered downtown businessess as well. Particularly hard hit was Barabara's Wedding Shop at the corner of Lee street and Wheeler street.
Heavy rainfall and flash flooding caused the county road department to close county road 562.
Several power lines were blown down by thunderstorm winds along county roads 92 and 55.
Very heavy rainfall caused rising water to flow under recreational vehicles at the Mallard Creek Wildlife management area.
Heavy rainfall caused several inches of running water in residences along Lakeview Street near 7 Mile Post Road.
A severe thunderstorm produced winds of 60 mph, which were measured by an amateur radio operator in eastern Lawrence county near ELHS.
Quarter size hail reported.
Heavy rainfall caused several inches of running water to accumulate over county road 51 near Toonersville.
Rounds of thunderstorms producing very heavy rainfall caused several inches of water to cover the roadway on the Natchez Parkway, about a half mile from the Alabama Highway 20 intersection near Central Heights. This caused a 72 year old man to hydroplane off the road at this location into a nearby creek, which was 7 to 8 feet deep. Tragically, he was unable to swim to shore and passed away.
Severe thunderstorm winds knocked down a tree at 570 county road 415 in the Center Star community.
Heavy rainfall from training thunderstorms produced several inches of running water over several roadways in the Leighton community.
A tree was blown down by severe thunderstorm winds on highway 101 just north of highway 72 in the North Courtland community.
Very heavy rainfall caused many streets in the Cherokee community to flood. Some roads, including a portion of North Pike Street was closed due to flash flooding. Some reports of between 6 inches and 1 foot of water over roadways were received. One report of water 2 feet deep at the intersection of Mulberry Lane and Georgetown Road was received. Other streets which were heavily affected by this flash flooding were: Pine Street, 6th Street, Mulberry Lane, Georgetown Road, and Virginia Street.
Heavy rainfall produced flash flooding across the road between Old Highway 20 and 6th Street near the Spring Valley Fire Department.
Heavy rainfall caused several inches of running water to accumulate across County Road 223 between Dodge City and Valley Grove.
Severe thunderstorm winds knocked down a tree near Guntersville on highway 227.
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, Lauderdale | 2008-05-27 | 72 | Male | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
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, May 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: 106443, 106452, 106456, 106479, 106486, 112228, 106273, 112229, 112225, 106118, 106414, 106147, 112231, 106157, 106294, 106299, 106275, 106931, 106330, 106598, 106256, 106395, 106278, 106353, 106373, 106385, 106595.