A strengthening low pressure system and associated cold front caused gusty winds across Central Alabama on Christmas Eve. Rain and isolated thunderstorms with the same system also led to isolated flash flooding.
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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.
A strengthening low pressure system and associated cold front caused gusty winds across Central Alabama on Christmas Eve. Rain and isolated thunderstorms with the same system also led to isolated flash flooding.
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 Dec 24, 2:59 PM CST, 3 hours 1 minute earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 259 PM CST THU DEC 24 2009 .UPDATE...AVIATION DISCUSSION. && .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT AND CHRISTMAS DAY. LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN SHOWERS CONTINUE OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE CWA THIS AFTERNOON...BUT WITH THE STRONG WEDGE OVER MOST OF CENTRAL ALABAMA...DEW POINTS ARE REFUSING TO RISE. MOST DEW POINTS HAVE ONLY CLIMBED INTO THE LOW 50S SO THE AIR IS REMAINING FAIRLY STABLE. THIS IS LOOKING MORE AND MORE LIKE IT WILL BE THE CASE THROUGHOUT THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS WHICH WILL SERIOUSLY MITIGATE THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER. I STILL THINK WITH THE CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS JUST TO OUR SOUTHWEST AND LESS THAN AN HOUR BEFORE IT GETS INTO THE STATE...DEW POINTS IN MARENGO AND SUMTER COULD REACH INTO THE UPPER 50S. IF THIS DOES HAPPEN...THESE COUNTIES AND THE IMMEDIATE SURROUNDING AREA COULD SEE JUST ENOUGH INSTABILITY TO PRODUCE AN ISOLATED SEVERE WIND GUST OR TWO. THE BIGGER THREAT THAT REMAINS IS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT WINDS OVER THE STATE. SUSTAINED WINDS OF 20-30 MPH ARE BEING SEEN ACROSS ALL OF CENTRAL ALABAMA...WITH SOME GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH. THESE ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE EVENING...WITH SOME SUBSIDING AFTER MIDNIGHT. BECAUSE OF THIS WE HAVE DECIDED TO EXTEND THIS ADVISORY THROUGH 3 AM CST AS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT BEHIND THE FRONT IS PROGGED TO KEEP WINDS ELEVATED PAST MIDNIGHT. CHECK OUT HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR THE LATEST ON BOTH OF THESE THREATS. THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY TONIGHT OF A COUPLE OF SNOW FLURRIES IN OUR EXTREME NORTHWESTERN COUNTIES. WITH SOME TRAILING MOISTURE... TEMPERATURES AROUND SUNRISE SHOULD BE JUST COLD ENOUGH TO EEK OUT A FLURRY OR TWO...BUT NO ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED. THE FRONT AND ASSOCIATED MOISTURE SHOULD BE OUT OF CENTRAL ALABAMA BY THE NOON HOUR ON CHRISTMAS DAY...AND WE COULD ACTUALLY SEE SOME SUN LATER FRIDAY AFTERNOON. .LONG TERM...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. AFTER A DRY SATURDAY...THE GFS HAS INTRODUCED A UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE THAT SPINS UP A SURFACE LOW IN THE GULF FOR SUNDAY. I HAVE INCLUDED A SMALL SLIGHT CHANCE POP DURING THE DAY ON SUNDAY... BUT I DON'T EXPECT MUCH OTHER THAN CLOUD COVER FOR SUNDAY. BEYOND SUNDAY...TEMPERATURES WILL BE THE MAIN FOCUS MONDAY AND TUESDAY MORNINGS. TEMPERATURES WILL LIKELY DIP INTO THE 20S AREA WIDE. THERE STILL IS NOT MUCH IN THE WAY OF CONTINUITY WHEN IT COMES TO THE SYSTEM DURING THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. GFS SPITS OUT PLENTY OF MOISTURE...BUT KEEPS MOST OF IT SOUTH OF THE AREA. EURO SPINS UP A SURFACE LOW BUT IS PRETTY DRY. 27 && .AVIATION...00Z TAF DISCUSSION. AS A DEEP LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM TRACKS NORTHWARD ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY A TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL REMAIN ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA. AS A RESULT VERY WINDY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT AT ALL TAF SITES...DECREASING A BIT TOMORROW AS THE LOW MOVES FARTHER NORTH...BUT REMAINING STRONG AND GUSTY. SPEEDS WILL BE SUSTAINED BETWEEN 20 AND 30 MPH THROUGH 3 AM WITH GUSTS POSSIBLY AS HIGH AS 50 MPH. WIND WILL BE FROM THE EAST TO SOUTHEAST AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT...SHIFTING WESTERLY AS IT PASSES. THE FRONT SHOULD MOVE THROUGH TCL AROUND 09Z...EET/BMX BY 11Z AND ANB/MGM AND TOI BY 13Z. MVFR CEILINGS ARE EXPECTED AHEAD ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT. WIND SPEEDS WILL DECREASE GRADUALLY TOMORROW...PREVAILING FROM THE WEST. CEILINGS WILL INCREASE TO AROUND 5000 FEET DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. LLWS IS A CONCERN...HOWEVER WITH SURFACE SPEEDS SUSTAINED BETWEEN 20 AND 30 MPH THRESHOLDS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE REALIZED. 12/SIRMON && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WIND ADVISORY FOR ALL OF CENTRAL ALABAMA THROUGH 3 AM TONIGHT. && 27/16
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 548 PM CST THU DEC 24 2009 ALZ011>015-017>050-260000- 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- 548 PM CST THU DEC 24 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. WINDY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS ALL OF CENTRAL ALABAMA THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. SUSTAINED SPEEDS WILL BE BETWEEN 20 AND 30 MPH. GUSTS COULD REACH 50 MPH AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT. WINDS SHOULD BEGIN TO SUBSIDE GRADUALLY AFTER MIDNIGHT BUT WILL REMAIN ABOVE WIND ADVISORY CRITERIA THROUGH 3 AM...SO THE WIND ADVISORY HAS BEEN EXTENDED FOR ALL OF CENTRAL ALABAMA THROUGH 3 AM. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT MAY BE NEEDED LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING HOURS. 12/SIRMON
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 71 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:43 UTC.
1 strong wind, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
A Christmas tree in front of the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse was blown down. Numerous trees were blown down near the Jim Walters Resources number 7 mine.
Several inches of water was flowing across a portion of AL-18, in the city of Vernon.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, December 2009
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: 208710, 208709.