A very hot period occurred during the last week of June. Maximum temperatures climbed to 100 degrees or higher on each of these days in at least one county in north Alabama.
Every event with a place to put it; 33 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 HUN wrote it up.
A very hot period occurred during the last week of June. Maximum temperatures climbed to 100 degrees or higher on each of these days in at least one county in north Alabama. At Muscle Shoals, the temperature reached or exceeded 100 degrees from the 23rd through 25th, and again from the 27th through the 30th. On two of these days (29th and 30th), the temperature reached 107 degrees. At Huntsville, the temperature reached or exceeded 100 degrees on the 24th and 25th, and again from the 28th through the 30th. On the 29th, the temperature reached 106 degrees.
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 Jun 27, 5:19 AM CST, 41 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 619 AM CDT WED JUN 27 2012 .UPDATE... FOR 12Z TAFS && .DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 350 AM CDT WED JUN 27 2012/ THE 'COOLEST' DAY OF THE FORECAST PACKAGE IS UNDERWAY...SO BE SURE TO ENJOY IT! CURRENT 3AM TEMPS ARE IN THE MIDDLE 60S IN MANY LOCATIONS...WITH SOUTHEASTERN PORTIONS OF THE AREA REPORTING UPPER 50S. DEWPOINTS ARE NOTICEABLY DRIER THANKS TO THE FRONT THAT PUSHED THROUGH THE AREA EARLY YESTERDAY. THOUGH WE WON'T HAVE THE GUSTY NORTHERLY WINDS THAT PERSISTED YESTERDAY...AFTN MIXING WILL ALLOW RH VALUES TO PLUMMET INTO THE UPPER TEENS TO LOWER 2OS IN MANY LOCATIONS TODAY. RED FLAG WARNING CRITERIA WILL BE CLOSE TODAY (SANS THE WIND COMPONENT)...SO WILL OPT NOT TO ISSUE A RED FLAG WARNING WITH THIS ISSUANCE. (SEE FIRE WEATHER SECTION BELOW FOR FURTHER INFORMATION). IN ADDITION...AN AIR QUALITY ALERT REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MADISON AND MORGAN COUNTIES TODAY. (SEE THE AIR QUALITY ALERT PRODUCT: HUNAQAHUN FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.) AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES TODAY WILL BE THE CLOSEST TO NORMAL VALUES FOR THE NEXT 7 DAYS...TOPPING OUT IN THE 91-95F RANGE. BEYOND TODAY...THE COMBINATION OF THE UPPER HIGH OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS BUILDING EASTWARD AND THE SFC HIGH TO OUR NORTH SHIFTING EAST WILL YIELD THE HOTTEST WEATHER THE TENNESSEE VALLEY HAS SEEN IN SOME TIME. TRIPLE DIGITS RETURN THURSDAY AND IT ONLY GETS WORSE FROM THERE. AFTN HIGHS FRIDAY LOOK TO TOP OUT IN THE 100-105F RANGE WITH A 596-597 DECAMETER 500MB HIGH CENTERED DIRECTLY OVERHEAD (OR CLOSE TO IT). AS A RESULT OF THE SFC HIGH TO THE NORTH SHIFTING EASTWARD...A BIT MORE MOISTURE RETURN IS EXPECTED FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...LEADING TO *AT LEAST* HEAT ADVISORY CRITERIA (IF NOT AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING). CURRENTLY...104F IS FORECAST AT BOTH KHSV AND KMSL FRIDAY...MATCHING UP WELL WITH ECMWF MOS GUIDANCE...THOUGH THIS MAY STILL BE UNDERDONE AFTER TWO DAYS OF TWEAKING IT UPWARD. OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL NOT PROVIDE MUCH IN THE WAY OF RELIEF OVER THE WEEKEND EITHER...WITH LOWS CREEPING UPWARD EACH NIGHT THROUGH THE PERIOD. LOWS FRIDAY MORNING WILL BE IN THE MIDDLE 60S AND LOWS BY SUNDAY/MONDAY MORNINGS WILL APPROACH THE MIDDLE 70S IN MOST LOCATIONS. THE ONLY GLIMPSE OF RELIEF FROM THE SWELTERING HEAT COMES SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY IN THE FORM OF *VERY* ISOLATED SHOWERS AND STORMS ADVERTISED BY THE GFS/ECMWF. GIVEN THE PREVAILING HOT/DRY CONDITIONS RECENTLY...WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED IF A COMPLETELY DRY 7-DAY PERIOD PREVAILED (OR LONGER AT THIS POINT GIVEN THE STAGNANT PATTERN IN PLACE). WILL LEAVE THE CURRENT LOW POPS AS-IS...BUT IF WE DON'T SEE RAINFALL AROUND THE AREA SOON...SERIOUS DROUGHT ISSUES WILL ARISE. 12 && .AVIATION... FOR 12Z TAFS... VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH THE TAF PERIOD. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE SOUTHEAST WILL RESULT IN LIGHT AND VARIABLE WINDS. RSB && .FIRE WEATHER... /ISSUED 350 AM CDT WED JUN 27 2012/ A CONTINUATION OF UNSEASONABLY WARM TO HOT HIGH TEMPERATURES...AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES ARE FORECAST THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS NORTHERN ALABAMA. MINIMUM RELATIVE HUMIDITIES COULD FALL BELOW 20 PERCENT IN SOME SPOTS BETWEEN 1-5 PM. THE KEETCH-BYRAM DROUGHT INDEX (KBDI) FOR MOST OF NORTHERN ALABAMA IS ABOVE 500. HOWEVER...WINDS TODAY SHOULD REMAIN GENERALLY LIGHT AND VARIABLE UNDER 10 MPH. THEREFORE A RED FLAG WARNING WILL NOT BE ISSUED. DESPITE NO OFFICIAL WARNING/STATEMENT CONCERNING OUTDOOR FIRES... PERSONS AND INTERESTS ACROSS NORTHERN ALABAMA SHOULD BE VERY CAREFUL WITH OUTDOOR FIRES. THE RECENT RAIN-FREE SPELL HAS CREATED VERY DRY CONDITIONS ACROSS THE TENNESSEE VALLEY. RSB && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...NONE. TN...NONE. && FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV/HUNTSVILLE.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 453 AM CDT WED JUN 27 2012 ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-271845- LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN- MARSHALL-JACKSON-DEKALB-CULLMAN-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN- 453 AM CDT WED JUN 27 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY... HOT CONDITIONS WILL RETURN TO THE TENNESSEE VALLEY FROM THURSDAY INTO THE WEEKEND. HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO WARM INTO THE MID 90S TO AROUND 100 ON THURSDAY...WITH EVEN HIGHER VALUES LIKELY DURING FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. HEAT INDICES ON FRIDAY WILL RANGE FROM 100 TO 105...WITH VALUES ABOVE 110 DEGREES POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTHWEST ALABAMA DURING FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AFTERNOONS. HEAT ADVISORIES WILL BE LIKELY FOR THE LATTER PORTIONS OF THE WEEK FOR MUCH OF THE REGION. AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING IS POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTHWEST ALABAMA FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. OTHERWISE...A SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFTERNOON SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAY RETURN TO THE TENNESSEE VALLEY BEGINNING EARLY NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. RSB
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
30 heat, 3 excessive heat. Local standard time, as filed.
Hot weather resulted in at least two people being transported to hospitals due to heat illnesses as reported by a local ambulance service in Huntsville.
The temperature reached 100 degrees at Muscle Shoals.
The temperature reached 100 degrees in Florence.
The temperature reached 105 degrees at Muscle Shoals.
The temperature reached 101 degrees in Vinemont.
The temperature reached 100 degrees in Fort Payne.
The temperature reached 100 degrees in Russellville.
The temperature reached 103 degrees at the Huntsville International Airport.
The temperature reached 102 degrees in Florence.
The temperature reached 102 degrees in Courtland.
The temperature reached 102 degrees at Pryor Field and in Athens.
The temperature reached 107 degrees at Muscle Shoals.
The temperature reached 103 degrees in Vinemont and 101 in Cullman.
The temperature reached 100 degrees in Fort Payne.
The temperature reached 102 degrees in Russellville.
The temperature reached 100 degrees in Scottsboro.
The temperature reached 106 degrees at the Huntsville International Airport.
The temperature reached 100 degrees in Guntersville and at Crossville.
The temperature reached 102 degrees in Decatur.
The temperature reached 105 degrees in Florence.
The temperature reached 104 degrees in Courtland.
The temperature reached 105 degrees at Pryor Field and 104 degrees in Athens.
The temperature reached 107 degrees at Muscle Shoals.
The temperature reached 104 degrees in Fort Payne.
The temperature reached 103 degrees in Russellville.
The temperature reached 100 degrees in Scottsboro.
The temperature reached 105 degrees at the Huntsville International Airport. At least eight people were transported to hospitals due to heat illnesses as reported by a local ambulance service in Huntsville.
The temperature reached 101 degrees in Guntersville and at Crossville.
The temperature reached 103 degrees in Decatur.
The temperature reached 104 degrees in Florence.
The temperature reached 104 degrees in Courtland.
The temperature reached 104 degrees at Pryor Field and 102 degrees in Athens.
A female died after suffering from heat exposure/hypertension.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heat, Lauderdale | 2012-06-30 | 54 | Female | Unknown | Direct |
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, June 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: 399116, 399070, 399102, 399071, 399072, 399074, 399077, 399092, 399103, 399107, 399111, 399068, 399073, 399075, 399078, 399080, 399094, 399096, 399098, 399104, 399109, 399112, 399069, 399076, 399079, 399081, 399095, 399097, 399099, 399105, 399106, 399113, 414853.