A warm conveyor belt of heavy rainfall developed in advance of an intensifying upper level low which dumped from around 2 to over 5 inches of rain across the eastern two thirds of north Alabama and middle Tennessee. Sewanee reported over 4 inches of rain atop the Cumberland Plateau in Franklin County.
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 HUN wrote it up.
A warm conveyor belt of heavy rainfall developed in advance of an intensifying upper level low which dumped from around 2 to over 5 inches of rain across the eastern two thirds of north Alabama and middle Tennessee. Sewanee reported over 4 inches of rain atop the Cumberland Plateau in Franklin County. The rain fell over a 24 to 36 hour period, with rainfall remaining light to moderate during most its duration. The rainfall resulted in minor tributary flooding.
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 28, 5:56 PM CST, 1 hour 24 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
556 PM CST MON NOV 28 2011
.UPDATE...
FOR 00Z TAFS.
&&
.AVIATION...
WILL CONTINUE WITH IFR CONDITIONS OVERNIGHT WITH INITIAL -RASN MIX
STILL EXPECTED TO BECOME ALL -SN AROUND 06Z AT HSV AND -RASN MIX
CONTINUING AT MSL. WILL CONTINUE IFR CEILINGS THROUGH THE FORECAST
PERIODS AND WILL GRADUALLY IMPROVE VISIBILITIES TO VFR BY 15-16Z
ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA.
&&
.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 213 PM CST MON NOV 28 2011/
DISCUSSION...
TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...
SATELLITE IMAGERY DEPICTS AN INTENSIFYING UPPER LOW OVER CENTRAL MS
WHICH IS MATURING RAPIDLY. SYSTEM IS DISPLAYING VERY CLASSIC FEATURES
USUALLY SEEN IN IMAGERY AND RADAR DISPLAYS. THE VAST WARM/MOIST
CONVEYOR BELT WHICH PRODUCED 3-5+ INCH RAINFALL ACROSS NERN AL AND
ERN MIDDLE TN STRETCHES FROM GA THRU CENTRAL KY BEFORE BEING DIVERTED
INTO THE GREAT LAKES. WATER VAPOR IMAGERY DEPICTS A DRY AIR STREAM
HAS ENCIRCLED THE ENTIRE LOW CENTER CUTTING OFF THIS INITIAL CONVEYOR
BELT. HOWEVER...A NEW WARM CONVEYOR BELT/TROWAL WAS FILLING IN ACROSS
WESTERN TN/SERN MO. CLOSER TO THE LOW AND COLD POCKET...AN AXIS OF
DEFORMATION HAS BECOME APPARENT THIS MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON FROM
SERN MO ITNO NWRN AL WHERE CLOUD TOPS HAVE COOLED AND PRECIP HAS
EXPANDED AND INTENSIFIED. THE OKOLONA MS PROFILER ALSO DEPICTS THE LOW
LEVEL COLD AIR STREAM BLO ~10KFT TOPPED BY SELY FLOW ASSOCIATED WITH THE
EMERGING UPPER LOW.
A WINTRY MIX HAS ALREADY DEVELOPED ACROSS NWRN AL AS THE MID LEVELS
DYNAMICALLY COOL...DESPITE SFC TEMPS IN THE M30S-L40S. NARROW BANDING
IS QUITE NOTABLE ON THE GWX/UAH ARMOR RADARS ACROSS NWRN AL/NERN MS
WITH BRIGHT-BANDED REFLECTIVITY RETURNS. THIS HAS CORRELATED FAIRLY
WELL WITH LARGE SNOW PELLETS/GRAUPEL REPORTS. ONE REPORT WAS JUST
UNDER DIME SIZE IN CLOVERDALE IN LAUDERDALE COUNTY. THIS INDICATES
SIGNIFICANT CLUMPING AND PERHAPS SOME MID LEVEL CONVECTIVE UPDRAFTS
IN THESE BANDS.
BASICALLY...THE FORECAST IS COMING INTO PLAY ABOUT AS EXPECTED. THE
QUESTION COMES DOWN HOW QUICKLY THE LOW LEVELS CAN COOL DUE TO
HEAVIER PRECIP RATES (WET BULB EFFECTS) AND ADVECTION OF COLDER AIR
IN LOW LEVELS. EARLIER UPDATES HAVE ADDRESSED THIS WELL AND WE HAVE
MADE NO CHANGES TO GOING ADVISORIES AND SNOW ACCUMULATION FORECASTS.
EXTENDED...
A DRY AND COOL PERIOD IS ANTICIPATED FROM WED THRU THE WEEKEND. MAX
TEMPS ON WED SHOULD ONLY REACH THE 40S GIVEN EARLY DAY CLOUD COVER
AND CONTINUED MODEST LOW LEVEL COLD ADVECTION. MIN TEMPS SHOULD
BOTTOM OUT IN THE 20S ON THURSDAY MORNING AS THE SURFACE RIDGE POSNS
ITSELF ACROSS THE OH AND LWR TN VALLEYS. A MORE ROBUST WARM UP WILL
TAKE PLACE THU AFTN INTO FRIDAY AS AN 8H THERMAL RIDGE OF 7-8C BUILDS
IN AHEAD OF THE NEXT APPOACHING FRONT. THIS FRONT ARRIVES SWIFTLY ON
FRIDAY...ALTHOUGH ITS EFFECTS LOOK TO BE RATHER LIMITED. A MORE
SIGNIFICANT FRONT WILL ARRIVE MONDAY-TUESDAY NEXT WEEK AS ANOTHER
HIGHLY AMPLIFIED TROF MAY PHASE WITH THE CUTOFF LOW EJECTING OUT OF
THE DESERT SW. THAT IS A WAYS OUT...BUT SOMETHING TO MONITOR IN
FUTURE MODEL RUNS.
&&
.HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
AL...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 9 PM THIS EVENING TO 9 AM CST TUESDAY
FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: CULLMAN...LIMESTONE...MADISON...
MORGAN.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 9 AM CST TUESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING
ZONES: COLBERT...FRANKLIN AL...LAUDERDALE...LAWRENCE.
TN...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 9 PM THIS EVENING TO 9 AM CST TUESDAY
FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: LINCOLN.
&&
AVIATION...08
DISCUSSION...17HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 100 PM CST MON NOV 28 2011 ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-290600- LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN- MARSHALL-JACKSON-DEKALB-CULLMAN-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN- 100 PM CST MON NOV 28 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... OCCASIONAL LIGHT RAIN WILL CONTINUE TODAY AS A LARGE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES INTO THE REGION. AS COLDER AIR WRAPS INTO THE REGION... SOME LOCATIONS MAY SEE THE RAIN MIX WITH SNOW...EVEN DURING THE AFTERNOON. HOWEVER...SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE NOT EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON. MORE WIDESPREAD MIXING OF RAIN AND SNOW WILL OCCUR BY THIS EVENING ACROSS NORTHWEST ALABAMA...AND AROUND MIDNIGHT IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF NORTHEAST ALABAMA AND SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. RAIN WILL TRANSITION ENTIRELY TO SNOW ACROSS MOST OF THE TENNESSEE VALLEY OVERNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... LIGHT SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH LATE TUESDAY MORNING. HEAVIER SNOW BANDS OR SHOWERS MAY PRODUCE ACCUMULATIONS OF UP TO 2 INCHES IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA...WITH UP TO 1 INCH POSSIBLE ELSEWHERE IN THE TENNESSEE VALLEY. THE HIGHEST SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL OCCUR IN HIGHER ELEVATIONS...AND IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA. MOST IF NOT ALL SNOW ACCUMULATION WILL OCCUR ON GRASSY AND ELEVATED SURFACES...BUT A FEW SLICK SPOTS ON AREA ROADS MAY DEVELOP WITHIN HEAVIER SNOW BANDS OR SHOWERS. THE PRECIPITATION WILL CHANGE BACK TO MOSTLY RAIN...OR WILL TAPER OFF BY LATE TUESDAY MORNING. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... FORMAL ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...TIMELY REPORTS OF SNOW WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. BCC
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Rutledge Ford Road was closed due to flooding along the Elk River. Time and duration of flooding estimated due to limited information.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Tennessee in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Tennessee, 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: 350675.