Storm Surge and Flash Flood in Alabama, November 9 to 10, 2009

Name: Storm Surge and Flash Flood in Alabama, November 9 to 10, 2009
Start: 2009-11-09T12:00
End: 2009-11-10T09:00
Location: Alabama

November 9 to 10, 2009 · NWS MOB · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $8.0 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS MOB wrote it up.

During the early morning hours of 10 November 2009 (540 AM CST), Tropical Storm Ida made initial landfall near Dauphin Island, Alabama with maximum sustained winds near 45 mph with locally higher gusts. A second landfall occurred around 6 AM CST near Bon Secour, Alabama. Wind and storm surge effects were relatively minimal along the Alabama and extreme northwestern Florida coastlines, with beach erosion being the primary impacts along the Alabama Gulf Coast. It should be noted that surface winds became quite gusty after Ida moved well away from the region and surface high pressure began to move in form the west on the evening after landfall.

Before Ida made landfall, it produced heavy rains across southwest Alabama causing localized flash flooding in southern Baldwin County with minor urban and small stream flooding in other parts of southern Alabama.

Ida formed into a tropical depression on 4 November in the southwestern Caribbean Sea. The cyclone endured approximately 10 days before making landfall on the U.S. North Central Gulf Coast. It achieved hurricane intensity twice and Category 2 intensity once prior to moving through the Yucatan Straights and into the southern Gulf of Mexico on 8 November. It reached peak intensity of 105 mph on Sunday evening 8 November while over the southern Gulf of Mexico. After that time, Hurricane Ida encountered very strong vertical wind shear north of 25.0 N latitude and much cooler sea water temperatures which prevented further intensification. Ida responded by gradually weakening before making landfall as a Tropical Storm over Dauphin Island, Alabama on the morning of the 10th, before dissipating over the Florida panhandle a few hours later.

What forecasters said that day

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 Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 9, 11:37 AM CST, 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 9, 11:37 AM CST, 23 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Nov 8, 1:40 PM CST, 22 hours 20 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
140 PM CST SUN NOV 8 2009

ALZ051>064-FLZ001>006-GMZ630-650-655-670-675-MSZ067-075-076-078-
079-101500-
CHOCTAW-WASHINGTON-CLARKE-WILCOX-MONROE-CONECUH-BUTLER-CRENSHAW-
ESCAMBIA-COVINGTON-UPPER MOBILE-UPPER BALDWIN-LOWER MOBILE-
LOWER BALDWIN-INLAND ESCAMBIA-COASTAL ESCAMBIA-INLAND SANTA ROSA-
COASTAL SANTA ROSA-INLAND OKALOOSA-COASTAL OKALOOSA-MOBILE BAY-
COASTAL WATERS FROM PENSACOLA FL TO PASCAGOULA MS OUT 20 NM-
COASTAL WATERS FROM DESTIN TO PENSACOLA FL OUT 20 NM-
WATERS FROM PENSACOLA FL TO PASCAGOULA MS FROM 20 TO 60 NM-
WATERS FROM DESTIN TO PENSACOLA FL FROM 20 TO 60 NM-WAYNE-PERRY-
GREENE-STONE-GEORGE-
140 PM CST SUN NOV 8 2009

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL
ALABAMA...SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...NORTHWEST FLORIDA...SOUTHEAST
MISSISSIPPI AND THE COASTAL WATERS OF ALABAMA AND NORTHWEST FLORIDA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT

   UNTIL IDA HAS MOVED INLAND PLEASE REFER TO THE HURRICANE LOCAL
STATEMENT FROM THE NWS IN MOBILE FOR DETAILED LOCAL INFORMATION.
ALSO...GRAPHICAL PROBABILISTIC INFORMATION CAN BE OBTAINED FROM THE
FOLLOWING WEB SITE FOR SURGE...WIND...TORNADO AND HEAVY RAINFALL
INDUCED FLOODING EFFECTS ASSOCIATED WITH IDA AT:
HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/GHLS AND CLICK ON THE MOBILE AREA

THIS WILL BE THE LAST HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK PRODUCT ISSUED UNTIL
IDA HAS PASSED.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

THIS WILL BE THE LAST HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK PRODUCT ISSUED UNTIL
IDA HAS PASSED. STRONG HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD IN THE WAKE OF IDA
TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. SURFACE WINDS SHOULD RETURN TO THE 10 TO 20
MPH RANGE BY LATE DAY TUESDAY UNDER CLEARING SKIES. SEAS WILL BEGIN
TO LAY DOWN AFTER THAT TIME.  DRY CONDITIONS WILL OCCUR IN
ASSOCIATION WITH CANADIAN SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE FROM MID-WEEK
THROUGH LATE WEEKEND.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS ARE ENCOURAGED TO
CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS ON IDA.

MEDLIN

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 78 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:29 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 high surf, 1 flash flood, 1 storm surge/tide. Local standard time, as filed.

High Surf, Lower Baldwin

When: November 9, 12:00 PM CST to November 10, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Lower Baldwin forecast zone
Property damage: $8.0 million
Reported by: Emergency Manager

High surf and extensive wave run-up along the Baldwin County beaches resulted in an estimated 9 million dollar loss of beach sand along the resort areas from Fort Morgan east to Orange Beach. 20 foot waves also damaged portions of the Gulf State Park Pier near Gulf Shores, which had recently re-opened after being destroyed by Hurricane Ivan. Most of the damage to the pier was from damage to railings, plumbing and outdoor lighting from the movable deck panels being moved by the waves. No dollar damage estimates were available from the Gulf State Park Pier officials.

Flash Flood, Baldwin

When: November 9, 11:30 PM CST to 11:50 PM CST
Where: Baldwin County, Orange Beach to 0.06 mi ENE of Orange Beach
Cause: Heavy Rain / Tropical System
Reported by: Broadcast Media
Coordinates: 30.280, -87.570

Heavy rains from Tropical Storm Ida caused widespread street flooding in Orange Beach.

Storm Surge/Tide, Lower Mobile

When: November 10, 12:00 AM CST to 6:00 AM CST
Where: Lower Mobile forecast zone
Reported by: River/Stream Gage

NOAA tide gage reported a total tide height of 4.83 feet above mean low lower water in Bayou La Batre. Mobile County Emergency Management Agency reported no damage from the increased tide levels.

What these are

High Surf: Large waves breaking on the shore that caused damage, erosion or casualties.
Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
Storm Surge/Tide: Water pushed ashore above the normal tide by a storm’s winds and low pressure.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alabama in 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history Warnings in Alabama, November 2009 The 2009 hurricane season

Sources

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 204002, 203564, 203999.