A stalled frontal boundary stretched west to east across Central Alabama on Sunday, January 8, 2012, and provided a focus for shower and thunderstorm development in the moist and unstable airmass south of the boundary. This resulted in an isolated severe thunderstorm near Montgomery.
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.
A stalled frontal boundary stretched west to east across Central Alabama on Sunday, January 8, 2012, and provided a focus for shower and thunderstorm development in the moist and unstable airmass south of the boundary. This resulted in an isolated severe thunderstorm near Montgomery.
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 Jan 8, 3:10 PM CST, 3 hours 23 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 310 PM CST SUN JAN 8 2012 .DISCUSSION... NO BIG CHANGES PLANNED TO THE ONGOING FORECAST IN THE SHORT TERM. BIG UPPER LEVEL LOW IS STILL FORECAST TO BE THE MAIN PLAYER ON OUR WEATHER OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. A SURFACE STATIONARY FRONT CONTINUES TO LAG AROUND NORTH ALABAMA...AND IT WILL MOVE VERY LITTLE UNTIL THE MAIN SYSTEM GETS IN HERE TUESDAY NIGHT. THAT WILL BE MOST OF CENTRAL ALABAMA WILL REMAIN ON THE RELATIVELY WARM AND MOIST SIDE OF THE FRONT...KEEPING CONDITIONS QUITE UNSETTLED. IT LOOKS LIKE THE NEXT 24 HOURS WILL BE QUITE SHOWERY...ALTHOUGH THERE MAY BE A LULL IN RAIN COVERAGE MONDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY TUESDAY BEFORE THE MAIN SURFACE LOW AND COLD FRONT APPROACH. THERE'S NO CHANGE IN THE THINKING REGARDING THE LIMITED SEVERE WEATHER THREAT ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRONTAL PASSAGE ON TUESDAY -- IT IS STILL MARGINAL BUT NOT QUITE ZERO. GIVEN THE AMOUNT OF SHEAR FORECAST TO ACCOMPANY THIS DYNAMIC SYSTEM...I THINK IT IS PRUDENT TO AT LEAST KEEP A LOW CONFIDENCE MENTION OF SEVERE POTENTIAL IN THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK. THE CENTER CORE OF THE MAIN UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL PASS RIGHT OVER (OR VERY NEAR) CENTRAL ALABAMA ON WEDNESDAY. ITS COLD CORE WILL PROVIDE DECENT MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES...WHICH SHOULD LEAD TO MORE SHOWERY CONDITIONS (EVEN AFTER THE SURFACE FRONT HAS PASSED). THAT SHOULD ALL MOVE OUT WITH THE LIFTING UPPER LOW WEDNESDAY NIGHT. LONG WAVE TROUGHINESS THEN BECOMES ESTABLISHED IN THE EASTERN PORTION OF THE COUNTRY FOR THE END OF THE WEEK. THE LONG RANGE MODELS STILL AGREE ON MANY OF THE DETAILS IN THE BOTH THE UPPER LEVEL AND SURFACE FEATURES. BUT IT NOW LOOKS LIKE THE GFS HAS COME BACK AROUND TO THE ECMWF'S IDEA OF KEEPING CONDITIONS DRY THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...WHILE ALSO COOLING THINGS DOWN QUITE A BIT DURING THAT TIME FRAME AS WELL. IN FACT...ONCE WE GET PAST THE LAST OF THE WET WEATHER ON WEDNESDAY...BOTH THOSE MODELS SUGGEST THE NEXT CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION WONT COME UNTIL AT LEAST MONDAY OF NEXT WEEK. /61/ && .AVIATION... 18Z TAF DISCUSSION. A STALLED FRONT DRAPED ACROSS NORTHERN ALABAMA WILL CONTINUE TO SPARK SHOWERS WITH A FEW THUNDERSTORMS THROUGHOUT THE DAY. CURRENTLY...SHOWERS HAVE MOVED INTO THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE AREA AFFECTING ONLY ANB FOR THE TIME BEING. EXPECTING ADDITIONAL DEVELOP DURING THE AFTERNOON. MVFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED...WITH IFR CONDITIONS POSSIBLE WITH ANY PASSING SHOWERS. CONFIDENCE IS NOT VERY HIGH AS TO THE TIMING OF SHOWER OR THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS...CONDITIONS LOOK TO BE LIKE THE PAST FEW NIGHTS...WITH CIGS AND VSBYS POSSIBLY GOING BELOW VFR CONDITIONS. 73 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GADSDEN 51 65 46 64 52 / 80 80 20 50 90 ANNISTON 53 68 49 67 54 / 80 80 20 50 90 BIRMINGHAM 55 67 50 66 55 / 80 80 30 60 90 TUSCALOOSA 55 68 52 67 57 / 80 80 50 70 70 CALERA 54 67 52 67 55 / 70 70 30 60 90 AUBURN 55 69 52 66 53 / 60 60 20 50 90 MONTGOMERY 57 73 54 69 55 / 60 60 30 70 90 TROY 56 72 52 69 54 / 50 50 20 70 90 && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 613 PM CST SUN JAN 8 2012 ALZ011>015-017>050-100015- 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- 613 PM CST SUN JAN 8 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. DENSE FOG WILL IMPACT PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ALABAMA THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT...REDUCING VISIBILITIES TO LESS THAN ONE QUARTER OF A MILE AT TIMES. VISIBILITIES SHOULD BEGIN TO IMPROVE AFTER 9 AM MONDAY MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. THERE IS A CHANCE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND TUESDAY NIGHT... AS A STORM SYSTEM MOVES THROUGH THE REGION. THE MAIN THREAT AT THIS TIME IS DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT MAY BE NECESSARY ON TUESDAY.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
552 PM CST SUN JAN 8 2012
ALZ041>044-090030-
AUTAUGA AL-ELMORE AL-LOWNDES AL-MONTGOMERY AL-
552 PM CST SUN JAN 8 2012
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTHEASTERN AUTAUGA...NORTHERN
MONTGOMERY...NORTHERN LOWNDES AND SOUTHWESTERN ELMORE COUNTIES UNTIL
630 PM CST...
AT 548 PM CST...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAS TRACKING A STRONG
THUNDERSTORM NEAR AUTAUGA COUNTY AIRPORT...OR 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
PRATTVILLE. THIS STORM WAS NEARLY STATIONARY.
PEA SIZE HAIL AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS
STORM.
LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
PRATTVILLE...
MILLBROOK...
WETUMPKA...
AUTAUGA COUNTY AIRPORT...
HUNTER...
&&
LAT...LON 3247 8664 3266 8605 3242 8601 3241 8602
3241 8601 3239 8601 3238 8602 3237 8601
3234 8600 3230 8656
TIME...MOT...LOC 2352Z 180DEG 0KT 3239 8650PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
630 PM CST SUN JAN 08 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0627 PM HAIL MONTGOMERY 32.35N 86.28W
01/08/2012 E0.25 INCH MONTGOMERY AL PUBLIC
PEA SIZE HAIL AND HEAVY DOWNPOUR ON SOUTHEAST SIDE OF
MONTGOMERY NEAR CITY PARK.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Wind gusts, estimated at 55 to 60 mph, occurred in Cloverdale on the southside of Montgomery.
Nickel to quarter sized hail was reported in the city limits of Montgomery.
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, January 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: 357695, 357693.