Afternoon thunderstorms developed in a highly unstable air mass and continued until shortly after sunset.
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 BMX wrote it up.
Afternoon thunderstorms developed in a highly unstable air mass and continued until shortly after sunset.
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 Aug 4, 11:25 AM CST, 1 hour 55 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1225 PM CDT WED AUG 4 2010 .UPDATE...AVIATION DISCUSSION. && .DISCUSSION... IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE...BUT TEMPERATURES AND DEW POINTS ARE RUNNING A DEGREE OR TWO WARMER THIS MORNING THAN YESTERDAY. THE HEAT IS ALREADY BRUTAL AT 11 AM WITH SEVERAL SITES REPORTING HEAT INDICES NEAR 105 DEGREES. ONLY ADJUSTMENT TO FORECAST HIGHS FOR TODAY WAS TO LOWER SLIGHTLY ACROSS THE EASTERN COUNTIES WHERE HIGHS WERE ONLY IN THE MIDDLE TO UPPER 90S YESTERDAY AND SIMILAR CONDITIONS EXIST TODAY. THE UPPER RIDGE WAS CENTERED OVER THE NORTHERN HALF OF ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI. MAJORITY OF SHOWERS AND STORMS TODAY WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AROUND THE EASTERN PERIPHERY OF RIDGE...BUT ISOLATED STORMS POSSIBLE ANYWHERE DUE TO THE EXTREME HEAT. 58/ROSE && .AVIATION...18Z TAF DISCUSSION. UPPER RIDGE OVER THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES WILL CREATE EXTREME HEAT AND HUMIDITY ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA. HIGH PRESSURE WILL CREATE LIGHT AND VARIABLE WINDS THRU THE PERIOD. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED STORMS WILL DEVELOP DURING THE HEAT OF THE DAY...MAINLY SOUTH OF I-20. THE STORMS WILL BE MOVING LESS THAN 10 KNOTS AND TOWARDS THE SOUTHWEST. DUE TO THE EXTREME TEMPERATURES ANY OF THE STORMS COULD PRODUCE WIND GUSTS OF 30 TO 40 KNOTS. THE CONVECTION WILL DISSIPATE BY 01Z WITH VFR CONDITIONS AFTER 01Z. NOTICE...KEET TAF WILL HAVE (AMD LTD TO VIS WIND AND WX) AMENDED TO THE END OF THE FORECAST THROUGH THE END OF 2010. THE CEILOMETER DATA WILL BE GOING THROUGH NUMEROUS TESTS AND MONITORED FOR ACCURACY. 58/ROSE && .CLIMATE... WITH TEMPERATURES EXPECTED TO BE IN THE UPPER 90S AND LOW 100S THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON...POSSIBLY INTO SATURDAY...A FEW RECORD HIGHS ARE IN JEOPARDY OF BEING BROKEN. NOT ONLY ARE THE HIGH TEMPERATURES IN THE AFTERNOON AT JEOPARDY...BUT SO ARE THE OVERNIGHT LOWS...IN REGARDS TO RECORD HIGH MINIMAL TEMPERATURES. THE TABLE BELOW INDICATES THE CURRENT HIGH TEMPERATURE RECORDS IN PLACE THROUGH SATURDAY. THERE WILL BE A PNSBMX ISSUED LATER THIS MORNING TO HIGHLIGHT ALL THE RECORDS ALREADY BROKEN OR TIED...AS WELL AS THE VULNERABLE RECORD VALUES OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. WEDNESDAY...AUGUST 4 LOCATION RECORD TEMPERATURE/YEAR(S) RECORDED -------- ----------------------------------- BHM 103 - 1947 ANB 103 - 1947 TCL 100 - 2006/2007 MGM 101 - 2006 THURSDAY...AUGUST 5 LOCATION RECORD TEMPERATURE/YEAR(S) RECORDED -------- ----------------------------------- BHM 102 - 1947 ANB 101 - 1947 TCL 100 - 1951/1991 MGM 103 - 1947 FRIDAY...AUGUST 6 LOCATION RECORD TEMPERATURE/YEAR(S) RECORDED -------- ----------------------------------- BHM 101 - 1930 ANB 102 - 1956 TCL 101 - 1954/1956 MGM 100 - 2007 SATURDAY...AUGUST 7 LOCATION RECORD TEMPERATURE/YEAR(S) RECORDED -------- ----------------------------------- BHM 103 - 1935 ANB 101 - 1977/1980 TCL 100 - 1956/2007 MGM 101 - 2007 && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING UNTIL 7 PM CDT THURSDAY FOR ALL OF CENTRAL ALABAMA. HEAT ADVISORY FROM 7 PM THURSDAY TO 7 PM CDT FRIDAY FOR ALL OF CENTRAL ALABAMA. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 100 PM CDT WED AUG 4 2010 ALZ011>015-017>050-051200- 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- 100 PM CDT WED AUG 4 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF CENTRAL ALABAMA. AFTERNOON HIGHS WILL ONCE AGAIN BE IN THE UPPER 90S TO LOWER 100S...WITH HEAT INDICES OF 108 TO 115 DEGREES. OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL ONLY FALL INTO THE MID TO UPPER 70S ONCE AGAIN...PROVIDING LITTLE RELIEF FROM THE HEAT. STRONG STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS ALL OF CENTRAL ALABAMA THROUGH 8 PM THIS EVENING. THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY. HEAT INDICES OF 108 TO 115 DEGREES WILL BE LIKELY AGAIN ON THURSDAY AFTERNOON...AND OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL ONLY DROP INTO THE MIDDLE TO UPPER 70S. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO BE A COUPLE OF DEGREES COOLER ON FRIDAY...BUT STILL HOT...SO A HEAT ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR FRIDAY AND MAY NEED TO BE EXTENDED INTO THE WEEKEND. HEAT INDICES WILL BE IN THE 105 TO 112 DEGREE RANGE IN MANY LOCATIONS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Several trees were blown down and a breezeway was damaged near Edgewood Academy between Elmore and Wetumpka.
Several trees down, either snapped or bent over, along County Road 49 and Comer Loop. Lots of small branches in the roadway. Two trees fell onto power lines.
A few trees were knocked down near the Alabama-Mississippi state line.
A few small trees and one large tree knocked down along Highways 107 and 43.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, August 2010
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: 254479, 254480, 254483, 254484.