Over 2 inches of rain fell across portions of central Alabama during the first half of December, bringing much needed relief to drought stricken hours. This caused drought conditions to end for Autauga, Bibb, Chilton, Dallas, Perry, Shelby, and Talladega counties on December 20th.
Every event with a place to put it; 7 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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.
Over 2 inches of rain fell across portions of central Alabama during the first half of December, bringing much needed relief to drought stricken hours. This caused drought conditions to end for Autauga, Bibb, Chilton, Dallas, Perry, Shelby, and Talladega counties on December 20th.
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 Nov 30, 11:32 PM CST, 28 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1132 PM CST WED NOV 30 2011 .UPDATE...AVIATION DISCUSSION. && .DISCUSSION... CLEAR SKIES AND NEAR CALM WINDS HAVE ALLOWED TEMPERATURES TO FALL QUICKLY THIS EVENING WITH READINGS ALREADY BELOW FREEZING IN SOME LOCATIONS. BASED ON TEMPERATURE TRENDS AND LATEST MOS GUIDANCE THE MINIMUM TEMPERATURES FOR THURSDAY MORNING HAVE BEEN DROPPED A FEW MORE DEGREES. BASED ON SLOW EROSION OF CLOUDS OVER EAST ALABAMA ON WEDNESDAY... THERE MAY BE SOME PATCHY FOG...ESPECIALLY IN THE VALLEY LOCATIONS. SO FAR NO FOG HAS BEEN REPORTED AT ANY STATION IN CENTRAL ALABAMA... BUT WILL MONITOR. 58/ROSE && .AVIATION... 06Z TAF DISCUSSION. NO CHANGES FROM PREVIOUS FORECAST REASONING. CLEAR AND CALM CONDITIONS WILL BE PREDOMINANT. I STILL THINK THERE WILL BE A LITTLE FOG AT ANB...EET...MGM...AND TOI BASED ON GROUND MOISTURE AND A LATER TRANSITION TO CLEAR SKIES WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. WILL CONTINUE TO GO WITH A TEMPO CONDITION...TO INDICATE A LEVEL OF UNCERTAINTY IN THE FOG (BUT KEEP IT AS A POSSIBILITY). /61/ && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 545 PM CST WED NOV 30 2011/ CLEAR SKIES FOR THE EVENING AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN. COLD TEMPERATURES TONIGHT AS EVERYONE IS EXPECTED TO FALL BELOW FREEZING. MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE UPPER LEVEL PATTERN THROUGH SATURDAY. A FLAT RIDGE WILL BUILD ALOFT AND MIGRATES EASTWARD WITH TIME AND WILL ALLOW GRADUAL WARMING THROUGH SATURDAY. THEREAFTER...THE FORECAST BECOMES A LITTLE MORE UNCERTAIN. THE MAIN DIFFERENCE THIS FORECAST PACKAGE WILL BE TO SLOW DOWN THE ARRIVAL OF A COLD FRONT THIS WEEKEND. THE EURO AND GFS HAVE BOTH PHASED THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN STREAM ENERGY INTO A HEAVILY POSITIVE TILTED WAVE THAT NEARLY STALLS THE COLD FRONT CLOSE TO NORTHWESTERN ALABAMA. SEVERAL SURFACE WAVES RIDE UP ALONG THE FRONT AND COULD BRING SOME VERY HEAVY RAIN TO OUR NORTHWESTERN COUNTIES BETWEEN SUNDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING. THE SLOWER MOVEMENT ALSO DELAYS THE ARRIVAL OF THE COLDER TEMPERATURES BEHIND THIS SYSTEM SO POP AND TEMP ADJUSTMENTS WERE MADE TO MATCH A BLEND OF THE EURO AND GFS. .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GADSDEN 22 57 25 60 31 / 0 0 0 0 0 ANNISTON 25 60 30 63 35 / 0 0 0 0 0 BIRMINGHAM 28 60 34 63 39 / 0 0 0 0 0 TUSCALOOSA 25 60 29 64 36 / 0 0 0 0 0 CALERA 27 60 33 62 38 / 0 0 0 0 0 AUBURN 29 60 36 61 38 / 0 0 0 0 0 MONTGOMERY 28 60 34 63 38 / 0 0 0 0 0 TROY 25 60 31 63 36 / 0 0 0 0 0 && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 630 PM CST WED NOV 30 2011 ALZ011>015-017>050-020030- 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- 630 PM CST WED NOV 30 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .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.
7 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Autauga County began the month in Severe (D2) drought conditions, however ample rainfall during the latter half of December caused drought conditions to end.
Bibb County began the month in Severe (D2) drought conditions, however ample rainfall during the latter half of December caused drought conditions to end.
Chilton County began the month in Severe (D2) drought conditions, however ample rainfall during the latter half of December caused drought conditions to end.
Dallas County began the month in Severe (D2) drought conditions, however ample rainfall during the latter half of December caused drought conditions to end.
Perry County began the month in Severe (D2) drought conditions, however ample rainfall during the latter half of December caused drought conditions to end for Perry County.
Shelby County began the month in Severe (D2) drought conditions, however ample rainfall during the latter half of December caused drought conditions to end.
Talladega County began the month in Severe (D2) drought conditions, however ample rainfall during the latter half of December caused drought conditions to end.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, December 2011
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: 354983, 354984, 354985, 354986, 354987, 354988, 354989.