A warm and unstable air mass led to the development of slow moving showers and thunderstorms over several days across Central Alabama. The slow moving storms caused very heavy rain in some locations, which 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 warm and unstable air mass led to the development of slow moving showers and thunderstorms over several days across Central Alabama. The slow moving storms caused very heavy rain in some locations, which 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 Sep 5, 5:50 PM CST, 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 650 PM CDT SAT SEP 5 2009 .UPDATE...AVIATION DISCUSSION. .DISCUSSION... QUITE A COMPLICATED WEATHER PATTERN WILL BE IN PLACE ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA AT LEAST THROUGH MUCH OF NEXT WEEK. IN FACT...THIS PATTERN HAS BEEN IN PLACE FOR THE LAST FEW DAYS. THE RESULTS HAVE BEEN VERY LOW CONFIDENCE FORECASTS. UNFORTUNATELY...THIS DOES NOT LOOK LIKE IT WILL CHANGE MUCH THROUGH THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS. HERES THE SETUP...THE WEDGE IS IN PLACE TO OUR NORTHEAST WHICH IS PRODUCING A WEAK SURFACE FRONT. THIS FRONT IS INTERACTING WITH A MOIST SOUTHERLY FLOW WHICH PRODUCES A CONVERGENCE AREA WHICH ENHANCES LIFT. AN UPPER LEVEL TROF IS ALSO INTERACTING WITH THIS SETUP. WE ARE GETTING THESE SHORT WAVES RIDING ALONG THE BASE OF THE TROF THAT ARE ENHANCING CONVECTION AND PRODUCING THESE CONVECTIVE FLARE UPS WITH SOME OCCURRING OVERNIGHT LIKE WE HAD THIS MORNING. ALTHOUGH COMPUTER MODELS ARE HANDLING THE OVERALL PATTERN CORRECTLY...THEY ARE HAVING A TOUGH TIME PICKING UP WHEN THESE FEATURES WILL MOVE THOUGH. THE END RESULT IS A LOW CONFIDENCE FORECAST. AS PREVIOUSLY STATED...IT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE THIS PATTERN WILL CHANGE MUCH ANY TIME SOON. IT DOES APPEAR THAT THE LATEST MODEL RUNS ARE STARTING TO GET A BETTER GRASP ON THE SITUATION. RAISED RAIN CHANCES THROUGH THE REST OF THE WEEKEND AND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. MOS HAS NOT BEEN DOING A GOOD JOB WITH TEMPERATURES FOR BOTH THE DAYTIME AND NIGHTTIME PERIODS. THE KINDS OF TEMPERATURES THAT THEY ARE PREDICTING FOR TONIGHT DOES NOT JIVE WITH THE EXPECTED CLOUD COVER. AS A RESULT...WILL GO SUBSTANTIALLY WARMER FOR THE EVENING PERIODS AND A FEW DEGREES COOLER FOR THE DAYTIME PERIODS AT LEAST THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. 10/ARM && .AVIATION...00Z TAF DISCUSSION. VERY WET PATTERN WILL CONTINUE THROUGH FORECAST PERIOD. WIDESPREAD RAIN WILL DIMINISH IN INTENSITY AND COVERAGE OVERNIGHT...BUT REGARDLESS...WITH VERY HIGH DEWPOINTS...MVFR FOG WILL FORM. WITH WIDESPREAD CLOUD COVER...DONT EXPECT TO SEE MUCH IFR CONDITIONS. PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUE REMAIN NEAR 2 INCHES THROUGH PD AND WITH SETUP AS DESCRIBED ABOVE IN PLACE...EXPECT WIDESPREAD RA AGAIN TOMORROW. DIFFICULT TO PINPOINT HIGHER INSTABILITY AREAS AND THUS TSRA DEVELOPMENT...WHICH WILL BE HIGHLY DEPENDENT ON BREAKS IN CLOUDS AND SURFACE HEATING. SO AT THIS POINT HAVE KEPT RAIN STRATIFORM...BUT MENTIONED CB IN CIGS. IT DOES APPEAR THAT GREATEST CHANCES FOR TSRA DEVELOPMENT AFTER 18Z WILL BE ACROSS THE WESTERN HALF OF THE STATE. STEFKOVICH && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GADSDEN 64 80 64 82 59 / 30 40 30 30 20 ANNISTON 67 83 65 84 62 / 30 30 30 20 20 BIRMINGHAM 68 81 68 83 64 / 40 50 40 30 20 TUSCALOOSA 69 83 67 85 64 / 40 60 40 40 20 CALERA 68 83 67 83 63 / 30 50 30 30 20 AUBURN 68 85 68 84 65 / 20 20 30 20 20 MONTGOMERY 71 85 68 85 64 / 30 40 30 40 20 TROY 69 86 67 84 63 / 20 30 30 30 20 && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 550 PM CDT SAT SEP 5 2009 ALZ011>015-017>050-061230- 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- 550 PM CDT SAT SEP 5 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. HEAVY RAIN PRODUCING WIDESPREAD ONE TO THREE INCH TOTAL RAINFALL... WITH ISOLATED AMOUNTS BETWEEN FIVE AND SIX INCHES...WILL PRODUCE ISOLATED FLASH FLOODING FOR AREAS GENERALLY WEST OF INTERSTATE 65. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. STEFKOVICH
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 342 PM CDT SAT SEP 5 2009 ALZ033-052145- PERRY- 342 PM CDT SAT SEP 5 2009 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR PERRY COUNTY UNTIL 445 PM CDT... AT 341 PM CDT...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR UNIONTOWN...MOVING NORTH AT 10 MPH. HEAVY DOWNPOURS ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. * LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH INCLUDE... UNIONTOWN. VALDEN. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE FROM THE THUNDERSTORM. THIS MAY RESULT IN BRIEF RUNOFF PROBLEMS AND PONDING OF WATER ON AREA ROADWAYS. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO...OR YOUR LOCAL TELEVISION STATIONS FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS CONCERNING THIS WEATHER SITUATION. 10/ARM
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 114 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:03 UTC.
1 flash flood, 1 lightning, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A portion of CR-115, near the Safford community, was washed out do to heavy rainfall.
A lightning strike caused a house to catch fire, on CR-82 near the Hawk community, resulting in unspecified damages.
A pole barn/storage shed was damaged and a couple of trees were blown down by winds estimated around 45 mph, between the Addison and Grayson communities.
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, September 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: 198007, 198008, 198009.