A decaying frontal boundary produced widespread showers and strong to severe thunderstorms across northern Alabama. These storms produced damaging winds and some large hail, primarily along and west of a Madison to Morgan county line.
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.
A decaying frontal boundary produced widespread showers and strong to severe thunderstorms across northern Alabama. These storms produced damaging winds and some large hail, primarily along and west of a Madison to Morgan county line. Surface dewpoints in the upper 60s to lower 70s allowed these slow moving storms to produce heavy rainfall causing flash flooding in the Huntsville metro area.
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 Sep 8, 1:38 PM CST, 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 238 PM CDT TUE SEP 8 2009 .SHORT TERM...THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT... AFTN WATER VAPOR IMAGERY STILL DEPICTS A CLOSED UPPER LOW OVER THE OHIO VALLEY...WITH SEVERAL SPOKES OF ENERGY CIRCULATING AROUND ITS CENTER. ONE SUCH SPOKE IS ARGUABLY PUSHING INTO THE TENNESSEE VALLEY ATTM...PROMPTING CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT AREAS ACROSS TN/MS/AL. MUCH OF THE ISLTD-SCTD SHRA/TSRA HAVE FORMED IN A WEAK CONVERGENCE ZONE OVER NWRN AL...WHILE ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY ACROSS NERN AL HAS BEEN TERRAIN-FORCED TO SOME EXTENT. MINIMAL CLOUD COVER EARLIER TODAY RESULTED IN STRONG HEATING...SO TEMPERATURES IN SEVERAL LOCATIONS ARE APPROACHING THE 90F MARK...AND LIKE YESTERDAY SEVERAL STORMS HAVE DEVELOPED FAIRLY IMPRESSIVE ELEVATED CORES. SHORT TERM FORECAST REMAINS FOCUSED ON PRECIP CHANCES...AND WHAT IF ANY ADDITIONAL FORCING MECHANISMS MAY COME INTO PLAY. THE UPPER LOW IS PROGGED TO WOBBLE AROUND THE OHIO VALLEY/MID-ATLANTIC REGION THRU THE REST OF THE PD. 12Z MODELS DO NOT BRING MANY EMBEDDED WAVES THRU THE CENTRAL TENN VALLEY...PREFERRING TO KEEP MOST OF THEM NORTH AND EAST OF THE AREA. WILL NOT BE SURPRISED IF THAT CHANGES OVER THE NEXT FEW MDL RUNS...REQUIRING AT LEAST SOME MODEST ADJUSTMENT TO THE POPS. BUT FOR THE TIME BEING...FEEL THE MAINLY-DIURNAL ISLTD POP FCST IS STILL THE BEST ONE...ESPECIALLY IF THE WEAK CONVERGENCE AXIS CURRENTLY DRAPED ACROSS THE AREA DOES NOT REMAIN IN PLACE /AS THE 12KM NAM INDICATES/. SINCE TEMPERATURES TODAY SKYROCKETED EARLY AND HAVE HOVERED ABOVE GUIDANCE...WILL ADD A DEGREE OR TWO TO MOS FOR HIGHS TMRW AND THURSDAY. A MOS BLEND HAS WORKED WELL FOR LOWS AND WILL CONTINUE WITH THAT TREND. .LONG TERM...FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY... EXTENDED CONTINUES TO LOOK HIGHLY AMPLIFIED AND RATHER UNSETTLED. THE 12Z GFS CAME IN WITH A COMPLETELY NEW SOLUTION THAT DOES NOT RESEMBLE THE GFS ENSEMBLE MEAN OR ANY OTHER MED-RANGE GUIDANCE...SO IT IS DISCOUNTED ATTM. THE 12Z ECMWF AND 12Z GEFS MEAN ARE MORE CONSISTENT WITH PAST FCSTS...WHERE THE UPPER LOW OVER THE NERN CONUS IS KICKED OUT TO SEA...ONLY TO BE REPLACED BY A LARGE/EXPANSIVE LOW OVER THE UPPER MIDWEST. THE 12Z ECMWF IS MORE AGGRESSIVE THAN PAST RUNS WITH A SHORTWAVE EJECTING OUT OF THE BASE OF THE MEAN TROUGH. THIS WOULD SUPPORT HIGHER POPS FOR THE SATURDAY-TUESDAY TIME FRAME AND WILL CONTINUE THAT MINDSET WITH THIS FCST. IF TRENDS HOLD...FEEL THERE IS A PRETTY GOOD CHANCE OF RAIN...BUT WOULD PREFER TO SEE BETTER MODEL CONSISTENCY BEFORE INCREASING POPS MARKEDLY IN THE FCST. THE 00Z GFSX MOS HAD BETTER INPUT FROM ITS PARENT MODEL...AND ITS TEMPERATURE VALUES LOOK QUITE REASONABLE IN LIGHT OF THE MORE UNSETTLED PATTERN. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... HUNTSVILLE 64 89 64 88 65 / 10 20 10 20 10 SHOALS 63 89 62 88 64 / 10 20 10 20 10 VINEMONT 65 88 65 87 65 / 10 20 10 20 10 FAYETTEVILLE 62 88 62 87 63 / 10 20 10 20 10 ALBERTVILLE 64 88 64 87 65 / 10 20 10 20 10 FORT PAYNE 61 88 63 86 62 / 10 20 10 20 10 && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...NONE. TN...NONE. && BCC
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 1257 PM CDT TUE SEP 8 2009 ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-091100- LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN- MARSHALL-JACKSON-DEKALB-CULLMAN-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN-1256 PM 1257 PM CDT TUE SEP 8 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT... THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE...MAINLY DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS THE TENNESSEE VALLEY. BRIEF GUSTY WINDS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL COULD ACCOMPANY THE STRONGER STORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY... THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. AN UNSETTLED WEATHER PATTERN WILL CONTINUE FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK AS ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE. AN APPROACHING STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING A BETTER CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EARLY NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. KNS/33
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 126 PM CDT TUE SEP 8 2009 ALZ008-081915- MARSHALL- 126 PM CDT TUE SEP 8 2009 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR MARSHALL COUNTY UNTIL 215 PM CDT... AT 125 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR UNION GROVE...OR 6 MILES WEST OF GUNTERSVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH. DIME SIZE HAIL AND WINDS UP TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. * LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH INCLUDE... GUNTERSVILLE. MOUNTAIN VIEW...RABBIT TOWN. THIS THUNDERSTORM COULD INTENSIFY QUICKLY...SO BE READY TO ACT IF A WARNING IS ISSUED. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO...OR YOUR LOCAL TELEVISION STATIONS FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS CONCERNING THIS WEATHER SITUATION. KNS/33
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 136 PM CDT TUE SEP 8 2009 ALZ002-081915- COLBERT- 136 PM CDT TUE SEP 8 2009 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR COLBERT COUNTY UNTIL 215 PM CDT... AT 135 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR TUSCUMBIA...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. DIME SIZE HAIL AND WINDS UP TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. * LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH INCLUDE... TUSCUMBIA. MUSCLE SHOALS. COLBERT HEIGHTS. LITTLEVILLE. SPRING VALLEY...LITTLEVILLE. WHITEOAK...LEIGHTON. THIS THUNDERSTORM COULD INTENSIFY QUICKLY...SO BE READY TO ACT IF A WARNING IS ISSUED. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO...OR YOUR LOCAL TELEVISION STATIONS FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS CONCERNING THIS WEATHER SITUATION. KNS/33
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 216 PM CDT TUE SEP 8 2009 ALZ002-004-082015- COLBERT-LAWRENCE- 216 PM CDT TUE SEP 8 2009 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR COLBERT AND LAWRENCE COUNTIES UNTIL 315 PM CDT... AT 214 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM FORD CITY TO SPRING VALLEY...OR ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 9 MILES EAST OF MUSCLE SHOALS TO 7 MILES SOUTH OF MUSCLE SHOALS...MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH. DIME SIZE HAIL AND WINDS UP TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS. * LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH INCLUDE... LEIGHTON. WHITEOAK. LA GRANGE. RED BANK...TOWN CREEK. THIS THUNDERSTORM COULD INTENSIFY QUICKLY...SO BE READY TO ACT IF A WARNING IS ISSUED. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO...OR YOUR LOCAL TELEVISION STATIONS FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS CONCERNING THIS WEATHER SITUATION. KNS/33
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 223 PM CDT TUE SEP 8 2009 ALZ004-007-082015- LAWRENCE-MORGAN- 223 PM CDT TUE SEP 8 2009 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR LAWRENCE AND MORGAN COUNTIES UNTIL 315 PM CDT... AT 222 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM MT HOPE TO WREN TO SPEAKE...OR ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 11 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MOULTON TO 7 MILES SOUTH OF MOULTON TO 11 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MOULTON...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH. DIME SIZE HAIL AND WINDS UP TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS. * LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH INCLUDE... DANVILLE. MASSEY. LACON. THE GUSTY WINDS WILL BE CAPABLE OF KNOCKING DOWN SMALL TREES...TREE LIMBS...AND POWERLINES. SEEK SAFE SHELTER UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO...OR YOUR LOCAL TELEVISION STATIONS FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS CONCERNING THIS WEATHER SITUATION. KNS/33
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 251 PM CDT TUE SEP 8 2009 ALZ001-004-005-082030- LAUDERDALE-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE- 251 PM CDT TUE SEP 8 2009 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR LAUDERDALE...LAWRENCE AND LIMESTONE COUNTIES UNTIL 330 PM CDT... AT 251 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 5 MILES NORTH OF LEGGTOWN TO OLIVER...OR ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 12 MILES SOUTH OF PULASKI TO 15 MILES WEST OF ATHENS...MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH. WINDS UP TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS. * LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH INCLUDE... LEGGTOWN...CAIRO. COXEY. CARTWRIGHT...ELKMONT. THIS THUNDERSTORM COULD INTENSIFY QUICKLY...SO BE READY TO ACT IF A WARNING IS ISSUED. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO...OR YOUR LOCAL TELEVISION STATIONS FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS CONCERNING THIS WEATHER SITUATION.
The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 114 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:59 UTC.
5 flash flood, 4 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Trees were reported down at Joe Wheeler State Park and at it's golf course. A tree fell on a transformer at the state park and knocked out power for 7 hours there.
Trees were reported down at Joe Wheeler State Park and at it's golf course. A tree fell on a transformer at the state park and knocked out power for 7 hours there.
Quarter size hail was reported on Clinton Avenue.
A lightning strike caused a fire to develop at 2906 Allen Ben Road, which tragically gutted the home. This fire jumped to the house next door at 2904 Allen Ben Road causing damage to the upperstairs portion of the home.
Penny size hail was reported at the intersection of South Memorial Parkway and Boulevard South.
Golfball size hail was reported on University Drive.
A few trees were blown down on East Lawrence Street.
The two outside lanes of Drake Avenue were reported unusable due to flash flooding between Memorial Parkway and Whitesburg.
A tree was blown down just north of John Blackwell Drive on Highway 243.
Minor street flooding was reported at Country Club just west of Memorial Parkway.
Water over Jordan Lane near Woody Anderson Ford was reported to be one and a half feet deep.
Flash flooding caused Washington Street from Oakwood Avenue to Washington Circle to the closed.
Flash flooding on Cook Avenue between Memorial Parkway and Church Street partially submerged a car attempting to drive through the high water.
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: 192526, 192527, 192521, 192533, 192522, 192523, 192524, 192530, 192525, 192518, 192529, 192519, 192520.