A wildfire began on the 12th near Courtland, Alabama. Windy and dry conditions that day allowed the fire to spread quickly.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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 HUN wrote it up.
A wildfire began on the 12th near Courtland, Alabama. Windy and dry conditions that day allowed the fire to spread quickly. The fire began near County Roads 284 and 288. The fire came within a half mile of a dozen homes, but none were impacted. The fire was contained by the 15th, and rainfall on the 16th put out the remaining flames. The exact cause is under investigation.
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 Nov 12, 9:37 AM CST, 23 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 937 AM CST SAT NOV 12 2011 .UPDATE... FOR MORNING DISCUSSION && .DISCUSSION... UNDER A MILKY SKY OF ADVANCING CIRRUS...TEMPERATURES ARE WARMING QUICKLY THIS MORNING AS STRONG LOW LEVEL SOUTHERLY FLOW ADVECTS WARM AIR INTO THE CWFA. WHILE THIS WILL CAUSE HIGHS TO RISE INTO THE MID 60S FOR MUCH OF THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON...AS MIXING ENSUES LOOK FOR SOUTH WINDS TO BECOME GUSTY BY LATE MORNING...CONTINUING THROUGH THE LATE AFTERNOON. ESPECIALLY IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA WHERE THE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL BE THE STRONGEST...LOOK FOR GUSTS TO 25 MPH AT TIMES. WINDS IN NORTHEAST ALABAMA WILL BE SLIGHTLY LOWER AS A MORE DIFFUSE GRADIENT EXISTS TOWARD THE CENTER OF THE SURFACE HIGH OVER SOUTH GEORGIA. MADE SOME TWEAKS TO SKY GRIDS TO SHOW A THICKER CIRRUS CANOPY THIS AFTERNOON...BUT MUCH OF THE GOING FORECAST IS IN GOOD SHAPE ATTM. && .AVIATION.../UPDATED FROM 12Z TAFS/ VFR CONDITIONS ARE MOSTLY EXPECTED WITH BUILDING HIGH CIRRUS THE ONLY CLOUD COVER UNTIL SCATTERED LOW LEVEL CLOUDS ARRIVE LATE IN THE FORECAST PERIOD. WINDS ARE THE MAIN CONCERN FOR THIS FORECAST WITH AFTERNOON GUSTS GENERALLY AROUND 18-20 KTS OUT OF THE SSW...WHICH COULD BE A CROSSWIND PROBLEM FOR THE 11/29 RUNWAY AT KMSL. AFTER SUNSET...SURFACE WINDS SHOULD DECREASE BUT WINDS JUST OFF THE SURFACE WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE TO NEAR 40KTS. THIS WILL LEAD TO LLWS AFTER 03Z AT BOTH TERMINALS. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 247 AM CST SAT NOV 12 2011/ WARM ADVECTION WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE TENNESSEE VALLEY TONIGHT AND INTO SUNDAY. INITIALLY...MID AND HIGH CLOUDS WILL STREAM EAST AND NORTHEAST INTO THE AREA FROM THE SOUTHERN PLAINS TONIGHT AND INTO SUNDAY. BOTH THE NAM/GFS MODELS ARE IN DECENT AGREEMENT IN DEVELOPING AND MOVING LOWER CLOUDS INTO THE FORECAST AREA BY SUNDAY NIGHT AND INTO EARLY MONDAY MORNING. WE WILL CONTINUE WITH A CHANCE/SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS FOR MONDAY AFTERNOON AND MONDAY NIGHT AHEAD OF THE MAIN COLD FRONT THAT IS PROGGED TO BE TO THE WEST OF THE FORECAST AREA ON MONDAY NIGHT. THE GFS AND NAM MODELS DIFFER IN RESPECT TO THE MOVEMENT OF THE NEXT COLD FRONT THAT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE OUT OF THE PLAINS STATES BY MONDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING AND THEN INTO THE FORECAST AREA BETWEEN 12-18Z TUESDAY. THE GFS MODEL SEEMS TO BE A LITTLE FAST WITH SYSTEM MOVEMENT...AND FOR NOW...WILL CONTINUE WITH TIMING PRESENTED BY THE NAM MODEL. FORECAST SOUNDINGS FROM GFS/NAM/ECMWF ALL INDICATE DECENT SHEAR AND STRONG LOW LEVEL JET DYNAMICS SETTING UP ACROSS THE AREA BY 12Z TUESDAY JUST AHEAD OF THE FRONT. WILL BE WATCHING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SQUALL LINE ON TUESDAY MORNING ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT THAT WILL BE WEST OF THE FORECAST AREA BY 12Z. THE COLD FRONT SHOULD PUSH ON THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA DURING THE DAY. PRECIP CHANCES LOOK PRETTY GOOD FOR TUESDAY AT THIS TIME AND WILL NOT MAKE MUCH IN THE WAY OF CHANGES. LESSENED PRECIP CHANCES FOR TUESDAY NIGHT...AS ALL MODELS INDICATE THAT PRECIP SHOULD BE OVER BY AROUND OR SHORTLY AFTER 00Z WEDNESDAY. IN THE EXTENDED PORTION OF THE FORECAST...AN AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD INTO THE AREA FROM THE WEST BEHIND THE COLD FRONT...WITH COLDER TEMPERATURES IN THE 60-65 DEGREE RANGE EXPECTED FROM WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY ACROSS THE AREA. THE ECMWF/GFS MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THIS SOLUTION. && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...NONE. TN...NONE. && AVIATION...CCC PREV DISCUSSION...TT UPDATE...JLL
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 437 AM CST SAT NOV 12 2011 ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-131100- LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN- MARSHALL-JACKSON-DEKALB-CULLMAN-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN- 437 AM CST SAT NOV 12 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY... A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE SOUTHEAST HEADING INTO THE START OF THE WORK WEEK. THIS WILL BRING CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS INTO THE TENNESSEE VALLEY BY MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. COVERAGE AND INTENSITY OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE BY MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY...AS THE COLD FRONT PUSHES THROUGH NORTHERN ALABAMA. SOME OF THE STORMS COULD BECOME STRONG TO SEVERE BY TUESDAY...PRODUCING SOME DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE HAIL. THE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE EAST OF NORTH ALABAMA INTO GEORGIA BY LATE TUESDAY. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH MONDAY...BUT IS POSSIBLE ON TUESDAY. TT
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
A wildfire began near County Road 288 and spread toward County Road 284, south of Courtland. Another wildfire also occurred along Alabama Highway 33, north of the Langtown community. Approximately 1170 acres were burned due to the wildfires. No injuries were reported.
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, November 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: 354097.