Central Alabama was under an active northwesterly flow during the first week of August. Numerous thunderstorm complexes and outflow boundaries resulted in thunderstorms most days.
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 BMX wrote it up.
Central Alabama was under an active northwesterly flow during the first week of August. Numerous thunderstorm complexes and outflow boundaries resulted in thunderstorms most days. With precipitable water values over 2 inches and weak wind fields aloft, thunderstorms were slow moving and produced heavy rainfall. Some of these thunderstorm complexes resulted in localized flash 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 Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 2, 5:40 AM CST, 3 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 640 AM CDT THU AUG 2 2012 .UPDATE... FOR AVIATION. && .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY. THE ALWAYS UNPREDICTABLE NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE DOMINATE PATTERN THE NEXT FEW DAYS. AN UPSTREAM IMPULSE LOCATED OVER ARKANSAS WILL PUSH CONVECTION INTO MISSISSIPPI THIS MORNING. SOME OF THIS ACTIVITY WILL EVENTUALLY MOVE INTO WEST ALABAMA. ANOTHER WEAK IMPULSE OVER GEORGIA WILL ALSO TRIGGER SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ALABAMA TODAY. DRIER MOVING INTO EASTERN TENNESSEE AND NORTHEAST ALABAMA SHOULD KEEP MOSTLY RAIN FREE CONDITIONS EAST OF I-65 AND NORTH OF I-20. THE NAM AND GFS ARE SHOWING A FAIRLY SIGNIFICANT MCS MOVING INTO WESTERN TENNESSEE AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. THE MODELS HAVE BEEN SHOWING THE MCS WEAKENING CONSIDERABLY BEFORE IT REACHES NORTHWEST ALABAMA... BUT LATEST NAM MODEL RUN NOW HAS IT MAINTAINING ITS STRENGTH AS IT MOVES INTO NW ALABAMA FRIDAY MORNING. FORECAST WILL REFLECT HIGH END CHANCE POPS FOR NORTHWEST COUNTIES ON FRIDAY... BUT POPS MAY NEED TO BE RAISED TO LIKELY IF TRENDS CONTINUE TO SHOW A MORE ROBUST SYSTEM. THE UPPER FLOW PATTERN WILL SHIFT TO A MORE ZONAL FLOW PATTERN OVER THE WEEKEND AS A STRONG UPPER SHORT WAVE TROF MOVES ACROSS THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY REGION. THE SHORT WAVE TROF WILL KEEP THE HEAT RIDGE OVER TEXAS WITH THE THE BERMUDA RIDGE STAYING EAST OF THE AREA. THIS WILL PRODUCE A WEAKNESS IN THE UPPER HEIGHT PATTERN OVER ALABAMA AND ALLOW FOR SCATTERED STORMS TO DEVELOP OVER CENTRAL ALABAMA ON SATURDAY... MAINLY DRIVEN BY THE HEATING OF THE DAY. DURING THIS FORECAST PERIOD...TODAY SHOULD BE THE LAST DAY OF HIGHS IN THE MIDDLE TO UPPER 90S. LOW LEVEL FLOW BECOMES SOUTHWEST AND A SLIGHTLY COOLER MARITIME AIR MASS OVERSPREADS ALABAMA. HEAT INDICES WILL ONCE AGAIN CLIMB ABOVE 100 TODAY...BUT ONLY A FEW LOCATIONS REACH THE CRITICAL 105 HEAT INDEX CRITERIA...AND NO HEAT ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED. .LONG TERM...SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. DECENT RAIN CHANCES DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THIS PERIOD AS A SHORT WAVE TROF AXIS SLOWLY WORKS ITS WAY INTO CENTRAL ALABAMA. ON SUNDAY THE SHORT WAVE TROF WILL DIG SOUTHWARD INTO THE MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY REGION...PRODUCING NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATES...AND RAISED RAIN CHANCES TO LIKELY FOR AREAS NORTH OF I-20. BY MONDAY THE SHORT WAVE TROF AXIS WILL SLIDE INTO CENTRAL ALABAMA AND HELP TRIGGER SCATTERED CONVECTION ACROSS MOST OF THE AREA. THE GFS SHIFTS UPPER TROF AXIS FARTHER SOUTHWARD THAN THE ECMWF MODEL...BUT OVERALL TREND TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY WILL BE FOR SMALLER RAIN CHANCES...MAINLY ACROSS THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES OF CENTRAL ALABAMA. 58/ROSE && .AVIATION... 12Z TAF DISCUSSION. PATCHY FOG THIS MORNING IS CAUSING SPOTTY MVFR TO IFR CONDITIONS MAINLY AT KTOI AND KEET. THIS WILL QUICKLY DISSIPATE BY 14Z. PREVAILING VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE REST OF THE MORNING AND INTO THE AFTERNOON. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED IN THE AFTERNOON BUT THE LOCATION AND TIMING OF THESE STORMS IS TOO UNPREDICTABLE TO INCLUDE IN THE TAFS FOR THIS CYCLE. 87/GRANTHAM && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GADSDEN 97 72 91 72 91 / 10 20 40 30 40 ANNISTON 97 72 92 72 91 / 20 20 40 30 40 BIRMINGHAM 96 74 93 75 92 / 20 20 40 30 40 TUSCALOOSA 96 74 93 74 93 / 30 20 40 20 40 CALERA 96 73 92 72 91 / 20 20 40 20 40 AUBURN 95 73 91 73 92 / 30 20 40 20 30 MONTGOMERY 97 73 95 73 94 / 40 20 40 20 30 TROY 95 72 93 71 92 / 40 20 30 20 30 && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 58/87
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 942 AM CDT THU AUG 2 2012 ALZ011>015-017>050-031200- MARION-LAMAR-FAYETTE-WINSTON-WALKER-BLOUNT-ETOWAH-CALHOUN-CHEROKEE- CLEBURNE-PICKENS-TUSCALOOSA-JEFFERSON-SHELBY-ST. CLAIR-TALLADEGA- CLAY-RANDOLPH-SUMTER-GREENE-HALE-PERRY-BIBB-CHILTON-COOSA-TALLAPOOSA- CHAMBERS-MARENGO-DALLAS-AUTAUGA-LOWNDES-ELMORE-MONTGOMERY-MACON- BULLOCK-LEE-RUSSELL-PIKE-BARBOUR- 942 AM CDT THU AUG 2 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. ISOLATED DAMAGING WINDS GREATER THAN 60 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH ANY STORM THAT FORMS ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA TODAY. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BE SLOW MOVING... AND LOCALIZED FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE... ESPECIALLY IN URBAN AREAS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
956 AM CDT THU AUG 02 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0950 AM HEAVY RAIN LIVINGSTON 32.60N 88.19W
08/02/2012 E0.00 INCH SUMTER AL EMERGENCY MNGR
HEAVY RAINFALL IN LIVINGSTON HAS RESULTED IN WATER ON
AREA ROADWAYS, INCLUDING HWY 11, WITH SEVERAL INCHES OF
WATER NOW COVERING PORTIONS OF THE ROAD.
&&
HBThe Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 146 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 15:00 UTC.
2 heavy rain, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rainfall resulted in water flowing over roadways, resulting in several road closures. The University of West Alabama had 4 roads that were impassable, with 12 to 18 inches of flowing water over them. Additionally, two feet of water covered the entire football field.
Heavy rainfall led to several roadways being covered in water.
A combination of brief heavy rainfall and poor drainage led to several vehicles being stranded in downtown Birmingham.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, August 2012
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: 409040, 409041, 409042.