Slow moving thunderstorms produced flash flooding in Randolph County.
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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.
Slow moving thunderstorms produced flash flooding in Randolph 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 Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 16, 9:30 AM CST, 0 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1030 AM CDT SAT MAY 16 2009 .UPDATE...FOR TODAY AND ADDITION OF FLASH FLOOD WATCH. && .DISCUSSION... TWO MAIN AREAS OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA THIS MORNING. THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING EXTREMELY SLOW AND BACK BUILDING AS WELL...SO WENT AHEAD AND ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THE THE NORTHERN TWO-THIRDS OF CENTRAL ALABAMA THROUGH SUNDAY 7 AM. THIS ACTIVITY IS WELL AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT THAT WILL BEGIN TO WORK INTO CENTRAL ALABAMA OVERNIGHT. RAIN CHANCES WERE ALREADY CATEGORICAL BUT WENT AHEAD AND INCREASED THEM UPWARDS IN AREAS WITH THE RAIN ALREADY FALLING AND EXPECTED. ALSO ADJUSTED TEMPERATURES DOWN FOR THE AFTERNOON ACROSS THE AREAS THAT HAVE ALREADY SEEN THE RAIN. UPDATES HAVE BEEN SENT. && .AVIATION...12Z TAF DISCUSSION. LOW CLOUDS ARE QUICKLY DEVELOPING ACROSS THE AREA THIS MORNING. MOST SITES SHOULD SEE CEILINGS BETWEEN 700 AND 1500 FEET AT LEAST THROUGH 15Z. CEILINGS WILL SLOWLY LIFT SHORTLY AFTER. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE STILL EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THEY CAN OCCUR AT ANY GIVEN TIME SO IT IS REALLY HARD TO PIN DOWN AN ACTUAL TIMING. AS A RESULT...WILL KEEP VCTS INSTEAD OF PREVAILING IN THE FORECAST. LOW CLOUDS WILL ONCE AGAIN BE A PROBLEM LATER TONIGHT...MAINLY AFTER 06Z. 10/ARM && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR MARION...LAMAR...FAYETTE...WINSTON... WALKER...BLOUNT...ETOWAH...CALHOUN...CHEROKEE...CLEBURNE... PICKENS...TUSCALOOSA...JEFFERSON...SHELBY...ST. CLAIR... TALLADEGA...CLAY...RANDOLPH...BIBB...CHILTON...COOSA... TALLAPOOSA...CHAMBERS...LEE. && 16
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 554 AM CDT SAT MAY 16 2009 ALZ011>015-017>050-171054- 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- 554 AM CDT SAT MAY 16 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS ALL OF CENTRAL ALABAMA BETWEEN NOON AND 10 PM. THE MAIN THREAT WITH THESE STORMS WILL BE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS OF UP TO 40 MPH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON MAINLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF A LINE EXTENDING FROM EUTAW...CLANTON...ALEXANDER CITY AND LAFAYETTE. THE MAIN THREATS WILL BE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS OF UP TO 40 MPH. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 74 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 15:28 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Several roads in and near the city of Roanoke were closed due to flash flooding. These roads included Chestnut Road, Louina Road, and CR-45 near Rockstand Road. County Road 41, near the Corinth Community, had four feet of water rushing across it.
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, May 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: 176280.