Through the end of June and beginning of July, Central Alabama experienced record breaking heat and little rainfall. This combination resulted in Severe (D2) Drought conditions spreading westward into several counties by the first week of July.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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.
Through the end of June and beginning of July, Central Alabama experienced record breaking heat and little rainfall. This combination resulted in Severe (D2) Drought conditions spreading westward into several counties by the first week of July.
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 Jul 2, 11:01 PM CST, 59 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1201 AM CDT TUE JUL 3 2012 .UPDATE... FOR 06Z AVIATION DISCUSSION. && .DISCUSSION... LOOKING AT A QUIET EVENING ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA...AS CONVECTION FROM THIS AFTERNOON HAS DIMINISHED AND ONGOING ACTIVITY REMAINS WELL TO YOUR NORTH. TODAYS STORMS HAVE LEFT SEVERAL OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES ACROSS THE AREA. CANNOT COMPLETELY RULE OUT AN ISOLATED SHOWER OR TS OVERNIGHT...BUT CHANCES ARE VERY LOW. WILL REMOVE ANY MENTION OF WX FROM THE REMAINDER OF THE OVERNIGHT PERIOD. TEMPERATURES LOOK GOOD. ADJUSTED HOURLY TRENDS...WHICH WILL BUMP LOWS DOWN A DEGREE OR TWO IN THE SOUTHEAST. OTHERWISE...NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES. 14 && .AVIATION... 12Z TAF DISCUSSION. MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES AND VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE TAF SITES TONIGHT...WITH ONLY HIGH CLOUDS EXPECTED TO PREVAIL. MESOSCALE BOUNDARIES WILL PRIMARILY DRIVE ANY SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT THAT MAY OCCUR DURING THE REMAINDER OF THE NIGHT AND DURING THE DAY TOMORROW. THE BOUNDARIES WILL MAKE THUNDERSTORM FORECASTING VERY CHALLENGING FOR THE TERMINAL LOCATIONS. FOR NOW...HAVE NOT INCLUDED A PREVAILING VCTS OR TSRA AT THIS TIME DUE TO THE SCATTERED COVERAGE OF THE STORMS. HOWEVER...IT COULD BE INCLUDED AT ANY TIME DURING THE DAY BASED ON THE LATEST TRENDS OF THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. PREVAILING WINDS WILL BE FROM THE WEST TO NORTHWEST THROUGH THE PERIOD...BUT COULD CHANGE RAPIDLY IF ANY MESOSCALE BOUNDARY MOVES ACROSS A TERMINAL LOCATION. 56/GDG && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 315 PM CDT MON JUL 2 2012/ SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY. THE AFTERNOON HAS BEEN RELATIVELY TAME COMPARED TO THE CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT EARLIER TODAY. AN 850MB RIDGE ACROSS SOUTHERN GEORGIA AND SOUTHEAST ALABAMA IS LIKELY KEEPING CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT SUPPRESSED IN THESE AREAS. AN OUTFLOW BOUNDARY WAS LOCATED ALONG THE ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI STATE LINE...BUT CONVECTION HAS BEEN SLOW TO DEVELOP DESPITE SURFACE BASED CAPES NEAR 3000 J/KG. DO NOT EXPECT A REPEAT OF LAST NIGHT AS THE MESO-SCALE MODELS ARE NOT KEYING ON ANY LATE NIGHT DEVELOPMENT. A MAJORITY ARE SHOWING MOST OF THE DEVELOPMENT ON TUESDAY ACROSS AREAS SOUTH OF I-20...ALONG AND SOUTH OF A SURFACE CONVERGENCE ZONE. ANOTHER FEATURE THAT WILL NEED TO BE MONITORED IS AN UPPER LEVEL IMPULSE CURRENTLY OVER SOUTHERN ARKANSAS. THIS FEATURE IS FORECAST TO DRIFT SLOWLY EASTWARD THE NEXT 24 TO 36 HOURS AND MAY PRODUCE MORE CONVECTION ACROSS WEST ALABAMA THAN CURRENTLY FORECAST. THE SYNOPTIC PATTERN WILL GO BACK TO A ONE THAT WAS OCCURRING BEFORE THE RECENT HEAT WAVE. A UPPER RIDGE WILL BUILD OVER THE MIDWEST STATES WITH AN UPPER TROF ALONG THE ATLANTIC COAST. THE SOUTHEAST STATES WILL BE ON THE BOTTOM SIDE OF THE RIDGE WHICH WILL ALLOW FOR A WEAKNESS IN THE UPPER HEIGHTS. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR SCATTERED CONVECTION TO DEVELOP EACH DAY...WITH SLIGHTLY HIGHER RAIN CHANCES SOUTH OF I-20. LOW LEVEL THICKNESS VALUES WILL BE ON THE RISE AGAIN WITH HIGHS IN THE MIDDLE TO UPPER 90S. SURFACE DEWPOINTS ARE EXPECTED TO STAY LOW ENOUGH IN THE AFTERNOONS TO KEEP HEAT INDICES BELOW 105 DEGREES. LONG TERM...FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY. THE OVERALL UPPER PATTERN MENTIONED IN THE SHORT TERM SECTION DOES NOT CHANGE MUCH THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THE UPPER TROF ALONG THE EAST COAST BUILDS SOUTHWARD BY EARLY NEXT WEEK WHICH MAY INCREASE RAIN CHANCES SLIGHTLY. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN MUCH ABOVE NORMAL. 58/ROSE && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GADSDEN 71 95 72 96 71 / 20 30 20 30 20 ANNISTON 71 96 72 95 72 / 20 30 20 30 20 BIRMINGHAM 77 96 75 97 75 / 20 30 20 30 20 TUSCALOOSA 74 98 74 98 75 / 30 30 20 30 20 CALERA 75 95 73 95 74 / 20 30 20 30 20 AUBURN 74 95 75 95 74 / 20 30 20 30 20 MONTGOMERY 73 95 74 93 75 / 20 30 20 40 20 TROY 73 94 73 92 71 / 20 30 20 40 20 && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 803 PM CDT MON JUL 2 2012 ALZ011>015-017>050-040115- 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- 803 PM CDT MON JUL 2 2012 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. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .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.
4 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Shelby County experienced Severe (D2) drought conditions beginning on July 3rd, which lasted the remainder of the month.
Chilton County experienced Severe (D2) drought conditions beginning on July 3rd, which lasted the remainder of the month.
Autauga County experienced Severe (D2) drought conditions beginning on July 3rd, which lasted the remainder of the month.
Lowndes County experienced Severe (D2) drought conditions beginning on July 3rd, which lasted the remainder of the month.
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, July 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: 406878, 406879, 406880, 406881.