Below normal rainfall during the first part of November brought little relief to drought conditions, causing Severe (D2) conditions to spread. On November 8th, Hale County and Tuscaloosa County began to experience Severe (D2) drought conditions.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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.
Below normal rainfall during the first part of November brought little relief to drought conditions, causing Severe (D2) conditions to spread. On November 8th, Hale County and Tuscaloosa County began to experience Severe (D2) drought conditions. However, ample rainfall during the second half of the month brought much relief to the area and both counties were removed from the drought.
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 7, 11:30 PM CST, 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1130 PM CST MON NOV 7 2011 .UPDATE... AVIATION DISCUSSION. && .EVENING DISCUSSION... NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES FOR THIS EVENINGS FORECAST UPDATE. THE MAIN CHALLENGE IS THE HOURLY TEMPERATURES AS WEAK SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW IS ALLOWING FOR FLUCTUATIONS IN THESE TEMPS...INSTEAD OF A CONSISTENT DIURNAL COOLING. TRENDING TOWARDS SIMILAR OVERNIGHT LOWS AS LAST NIGHT. ALSO...THE MID-LEVEL CLOUD DECK THAT WAS ONLY OVER A SMALL PORTION OF THE AREA EARLIER HAS EXPANDED...GIVING MOST EVERYONE SOME CLOUD COVER THIS EVENING. THE DECK COULD ALSO PLAY INTO OVERNIGHT LOWS...KEEPING THINGS A COUPLE OF DEGREES WARMER THAN CURRENT THINKING. UPDATES ARE OUT. 27 && .PREVIOUS DISCUSSION ISSUED AT 306 PM... COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE ON WEDNESDAY...AND RAINFALL ASSOCIATED WITH SAME...WILL PROVIDE THE MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGE OVER THE NEXT 7 PERIOD. 12Z MODEL OUTPUT CONTINUES TO SUGGEST A DAYTIME HOURS WEDNESDAY TIME FRAME FOR FRONTAL PASSAGE. A FEW SHOWERS COULD WORK THEIR WAY INTO THE NORTHWEST COUNTIES BEFORE 12Z WEDNESDAY MORNING...BUT THE BULK OF THE RAIN CHANCES WILL COME DURING THE FOLLOWING 12 HOUR PERIOD. DESPITE SURFACE DEWPOINTS THAT ARE FORECAST TO BE IN THE 50S TO NEAR 60 DEGREES BY THE TIME THE FRONT PUSHES THROUGH WEDNESDAY... SURFACE INSTABILITY WILL LIKELY BE QUITE LIMITED. THE MEAT OF THE UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM SWINGS WELL TO OUR NORTH...AND THIS LIMITS MID- LEVEL COOLING AND (SUBSEQUENTLY) LAPSE RATES. THE LOW LEVEL FRONTAL FORCING MAY BE ENOUGH TO POP A FEW ELEVATED THUNDERSTORMS... BUT NOT ANYTHING TOO STRONG. WITH CONFIDENCE IN AT LEAST SOME LIMITED QPF INCREASING...I THINK LIKELY POPS ARE JUSTIFIED AREA WIDE AT SOME POINT DURING THE WEDNESDAY/WEDNESDAY NIGHT PERIOD. THE FRONT SLOWS DOWN A BIT LATE WEDNESDAY EARLY THURSDAY...AS THE FORCING LIFTS OFF TO THE NORTH. BUT I THINK BY NOON THURSDAY...ALL RAIN SHOULD BE EAST OF OUR AREA. THAT WILL LEAVE DRY CONDITIONS INTO AND THROUGH NEXT WEEKEND. WILL CONTINUE TO HIGHLIGHT THE COLD CONDITIONS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY MORNINGS IN THE HWO...WITH TEMPERATURES EXPECTED TO DROP WELL DOWN INTO THE 30S IN MOST AREAS. && .AVIATION... 06Z TAF DISCUSSION. VFR CONDS EXPECTED THRU THE PERIOD. A LOW LEVEL RIDGE ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST STATES WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE AN EAST TO SOUTHEAST FLOW ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA. THERE IS ENOUGH OF A SOUTHERLY COMPONENT ABOVE 3K FEET FOR MID LEVEL CLOUDS TO WORK NORTHWARD INTO ALABAMA...WITH A STRONG INVERSION AROUND 850MB. THE PREVAILING CLOUD COVER WILL BE BKN-OVC ARND 6K FEET BUT THERE WILL ALSO BE PERIODS OF SCATTERED CLOUDS. BOUNDARY LAYER WINDS ARND 10 KNOTS AND CLOUD COVER WILL HINDER FOG DEVELOPMENT. 58/ROSE && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 724 PM CST MON NOV 7 2011 ALZ011>015-017>050-081600- 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- 724 PM CST MON NOV 7 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...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. COLD CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED FRIDAY MORNING AND AGAIN ON SATURDAY MORNING. LOW TEMPERATURES MAY HIT THE FREEZING MARK OR BELOW IN SEVERAL 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.
2 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Hale county experienced Severe (D2) drought conditions from the 8th through the 29th.
The extreme southeastern portion of Tuscaloosa County experienced Severe (D2) drought conditions from the 8th through the 29th.
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: 350948, 350949.