The dry and hot weather pattern that prevailed in late May continued into early June. This caused the drought conditions to intensify.
Every event with a place to put it; 12 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.
The dry and hot weather pattern that prevailed in late May continued into early June. This caused the drought conditions to intensify. Barbour, Tallapoosa, Chambers, Macon, Lee, Lowndes, Montgomery, Pike, Bullock, Elmore, Russell and Randolph Counties remained at or above Severe Drought (D2) conditions the entire month. Bullock, Macon and Lee Counties were upgraded to Extreme Drought (D3) on the 7th. Barbour and Russell Counties were upgraded to Exceptional Drought (D4) on the 14th. June rainfall was better than May but only provided temporary relief. Southeast sections received rain amounts ranging from around 1 inch to just over 4 inches in a few places.
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 May 31, 10:50 PM CST, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1150 PM CDT TUE MAY 31 2011 .UPDATE...AVIATION DISCUSSION. && .DISCUSSION... FORECAST APPEARS TO BE ON TRACK...SO NO MAJOR CHANGES NECESSARY. DID HOWEVER MAKE A FEW TWEAKS TO HOURLY TEMPS AND DEW POINTS. IT WILL BE ANOTHER WARM AND MUGGY NIGHT ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA. OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL ONLY FALL INTO THE UPPER 60S TO LOW 70S. SKIES WILL REMAIN CLEAR. UPDATES WILL BE OUT SHORTLY. 19 && .AVIATION...06Z TAF DISCUSSION. VFR CONDITIONS WILL BE THE PREVAILING FLIGHT CATEGORY THROUGH THE PERIOD. SURFACE RIDGE TO THE WEST OF ALABAMA WILL PRODUCE LIGHT NORTH WINDS OVER AREA THRU 12Z WITH SOME LIGHT FOG POSSIBLE. NORTH WINDS WILL INCREASE TO NEAR 8-10 KNOTS BY 17Z MAINLY DUE TO INCREASING PRESSURE GRADIENT DUE TO EASTERLY WAVE OVER NORTH FLORIDA. NOTICE...KEET TAF WILL HAVE (AMD LTD TO VIS WIND AND WX) AMENDED TO THE END OF THE FORECAST UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. THE CEILOMETER DATA WILL BE GOING THROUGH NUMEROUS TESTS AND MONITORED FOR ACCURACY. 58 && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 620 PM CDT TUE MAY 31 2011/ ONLY MINOR CHANGES TO THE FORECAST AS WE REMAIN UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A LARGE UPPER RIDGE. TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO BE HOT AND HUMID WITH ONLY ISOLATED RAIN CHANCES. LOOKING AT THE SYNOPTIC PATTERN THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS...A SHORTWAVE PASSING THROUGH THE UPPER MIDWEST AND GREAT LAKES REGIONS WILL FLATTEN THE CURRENT RIDGING OVER THE SOUTHEAST AND EAST COAST. THE CENTER OF THE RIDGE RETROGRADES TO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS AND A VERY SUBTLE POCKET OF SLIGHTLY COOLER MID LEVEL AIR PASSES THROUGH THE SOUTHEAST WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. I THINK THIS WILL BE ENOUGH TO INITIATE ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS BY MID AFTERNOON WEDNESDAY AND WILL INCLUDE THUNDERSTORM WORDING FOR THE SOUTHEASTERN HALF OF THE CWA AS THIS IS THE BEST LOCATION FOR ANY DEVELOPMENT. SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD DEVELOP MICROBURST CHARACTERISTICS WITH STRONG TO SEVERE WINDS POSSIBLE. CONFIDENCE IS TOO LOW AND TOO ISOLATED TO INCLUDE ANY DETAILS IN THE HWO AT THIS TIME BUT SOMETHING WORTH WATCHING. A SIMILAR SETUP FOR THURSDAY. BY FRIDAY...A DEEPENING TROUGH OVER THE WESTERN COAST WILL ENHANCE THE RIDING OVER THE SOUTHEAST AND ISOLATED RAIN CHANCES BECOME LESS LIKELY OR EXTREMELY ISOLATED. PROBABLY NOT WORTH MENTIONING IN THE FORECAST. A SIMILAR SETUP FOR SATURDAY. LATER IN THE PERIOD...THE RIDGE REMAINS OVER THE SOUTHEAST ALTHOUGH THE HEIGHTS LOWER TO MORE REASONABLE VALUES. TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE A FEW DEGREES LOWER EARLY NEXT WEEK FOR BOTH NIGHT AND DAY. ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED. 88 && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 744 PM CDT TUE MAY 31 2011 ALZ011>015-017>050-011500- 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- 744 PM CDT TUE MAY 31 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...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. 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.
12 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Barbour County started the month in Extreme Drought (D3) condition and was upgraded to Exceptional Drought (D4) condition on the 14th.
Tallapoosa County experienced Severe Drought (D2) conditions the entire month.
Chambers County experienced Severe Drought (D2) conditions the entire month.
Macon County started the month in Severe Drought (D2) condition and was upgraded to Extreme Drought (D3) conditions on the 7th.
Lee County started the month in Severe Drought (D2) condition and was upgraded to Extreme Drought (D3) conditions on the 7th.
Lowndes County experienced Severe Drought (D2) conditions the entire month.
Montgomery County experienced Severe Drought (D2) conditions the entire month.
Pike County experienced Extreme Drought (D3) conditions the entire month.
Bullock County started the month in Severe Drought (D2) condition and was upgraded to Extreme Drought (D3) conditions on the 7th.
Elmore County experienced Severe Drought (D2) conditions the entire month.
Russell County started the month in Extreme Drought (D3) condition and was upgraded to Exceptional Drought (D4) conditions on the 14th.
Randolph County experienced Severe Drought (D2) conditions the entire month.
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, June 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: 316170, 316171, 316172, 316173, 316176, 316177, 316178, 316179, 316180, 316182, 316183, 316184.