On Tuesday, July 30, an upper level shortwave crossed the southeastern United States and interacted with a stalled front across south Central Alabama, resulting in scattered thunderstorms. As outflow boundaries collided, thunderstorms continued to redevelop over Troy, resulting in flash flooding.
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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.
On Tuesday, July 30, an upper level shortwave crossed the southeastern United States and interacted with a stalled front across south Central Alabama, resulting in scattered thunderstorms. As outflow boundaries collided, thunderstorms continued to redevelop over Troy, resulting in 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 Jul 30, 9:17 PM CST, 1 hour 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1017 PM CDT TUE JUL 30 2013 .UPDATE... EVENING UPDATE. && .DISCUSSION... UPDATED FORECAST TONIGHT BASED ON CONTINUING CONVECTION ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST WITH THE HELP OF A DECAYING FRONTAL BOUNDARY...AS WELL AS OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES FROM THIS AFTERNOON'S CONVECTION. HEAVY RAIN OVER PIKE IS MOVING LITTLE. OTHERWISE...SCATTERED SHOWERS HAVE DECREASED ACROSS THE NORTHWEST WITH A PRE FRONTAL TROUGH BUT LIKELY HOOD OF OVERNIGHT CONVECTION LOOKS BETTER ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA...BUT WITH THE EXCEPTION OF PIKE AMOUNTS SHOULD BE LIGHT. ONLY A FEW TWEAKS WERE MADE WITH TEMPERATURES OVERNIGHT AS THEY SHOULD BE IN GOOD SHAPE. UPDATE ALREADY OUT. 08 && .AVIATION... 00Z TAF DISCUSSION. A FAIRLY CHALLENGING AVIATION FORECAST IS IN STORE TONIGHT ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA...WITH OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES PROVIDING ENOUGH LIFT FOR SCATTERED SHOWERS AND STORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON. AS A DISTURBANCE TRAVERSES ACROSS NORTHWESTERN AND NORTHERN PORTIONS OF ALABAMA TONIGHT...THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT BEFORE MIDNIGHT TONIGHT FOR THE NORTHERN TAF SITES...BUT COVERAGE SHOULD DECREASE WITH THE LOSS OF DAYTIME HEATING. THEREFORE...HAVE ONLY PLACED VCTS IN THE TAF AT THIS TIME. THE OTHER CHALLENGE WILL BE THE POSSIBILITY OF LOW STRATUS OVERNIGHT TONIGHT. WITH THE IMPULSE MOVING THROUGH THE NORTHERN TERMINALS TONIGHT...THE CHANCE OF LOWER STRATUS APPEARS LOWER AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...WENT AHEAD AND KEPT MVFR CIGS IN THE TAF FOR NOW WITH MOISTURE CONTINUING TO BE ON THE INCREASE. THE TERMINALS WITH THE BEST SHOT OF OBSERVING ANY LOWER CIGS WILL BE AT KTOI AND KMGM WITH DEEPER MOISTURE IN PLACE ACROSS SOUTHERN ALABAMA. ALSO...HEAVY RAINFALL IN THE AREA COULD LEAD TO SOME PATCHY FOG CONCERNS AS WELL. SHOWERS AND STORMS WILL BE SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS DURING THE DAY ON WEDNESDAY...AND HAVE GONE AHEAD AND INCLUDED VCTS FOR ALL TERMINALS DURING THE PLANNING PERIOD. WINDS WILL REMAIN SOUTHERLY THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD AND REMAIN LIGHT. FREQUENT AMENDMENTS WILL BE LIKELY BASED ON RADAR TRENDS AND WHERE SHOWERS AND STORMS PROPAGATE. 56/GDG && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 324 PM CDT TUE JUL 30 2013/ A FEW MORE SHOWERS ON RADAR EARLY THIS AFTERNOON THAN YESTERDAY. THE UPPER LEVEL PATTERN IS CHARACTERIZED BY BROAD ANTICYCLONIC FLOW ACROSS THE CONUS. A SHORTWAVE TROUGH CAN BE NOTED ACROSS THE MID-MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY. THIS WAVE WILL BE THE FEATURE THAT WILL BRING THE FORECAST AREA A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS LATER THIS EVENING AND INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. AT THE SURFACE...THE FRONT IS PROGRESSING BACK TO THE NORTH. THE FRONT CAN BE SEEN ALONG THE LEADING EDGE OF THE CU FIELD ON VISIBLE SATELLITE. A FEW WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS HAVE DEVELOPED IN THE WARM MOIST AIR SOUTH OF THE BOUNDARY BUT WILL REMAIN FAIRLY ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS. PRECIPITATION CHANCES WILL PICK UP LATE THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT ACROSS THE NORTH AS THE SHORTWAVE TROUGH SWINGS ACROSS THE TENNESSEE VALLEY. DEW POINTS SOUTH AND WEST OF THE U.S. 280 CORRIDOR HAVE ALREADY PUSHED UP INTO THE LOW TO MID-70S. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BEGIN ACROSS NORTHWESTERN PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ALABAMA AROUND 7 PM AND WILL SLOWLY MOVE TO THE EAST THROUGHOUT THE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT HOURS AS IT WILL TAKE SOME TIME FOR AREAS FURTHER TO THE EAST TO SATURATE. CLOUD COVER WILL INCREASE OVERNIGHT...THEREFORE...LOW TEMPERATURES SHOULD STAY UP IN THE LOW TO MID 70S. MODELS INDICATE THAT MOISTURE WILL BE PREVALENT ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA WITH PW VALUES WELL ABOVE 2 INCHES BY TOMORROW . THESE PW VALUES WILL BE NEAR THE 99TH PERCENTILE FOR LATE JULY EARLY AUGUST. THEREFORE...HAVE LIKELY POPS ACROSS MOST OF THE FORECAST AREA. MODELS INDICATE THAT THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BE MODERATELY UNSTABLE WITH 1500-2500 J/KG OF SBCAPE. MODELS ONLY INDICATE 25-35 KTS OF 0-6 KM DEEP LAYER SHEAR. THIS IS NOT THAT LOW FOR SUMMERTIME CONVECTION. THEREFORE...EXPECT A FEW STRONG STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH MAY BE AN ISOLATED SEVERE STORM OR TWO. HOWEVER...ENOUGH CONFIDENCE STILL DOES NOT EXIST TO ADD ANY MENTION OF SEVERE WEATHER TO THE HWO AT THIS TIME. THE MAIN RISKS WILL BE GUSTY WINDS UP TO 50 KTS AND HEAVY RAINFALL. ANY STRONG OR POTENTIALLY SEVERE STORMS SHOULD WEAKEN NEAR SUNSET AS THE UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT EXITS TO THE SOUTHEAST AND DUE TO THE LOSS OF DAYTIME HEATING. THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL GET HUNG UP ACROSS SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA AGAIN ON THURSDAY AND EXPECT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ALONG THE VICINITY OF THE FRONT. THE FRONT WILL LOSS DEFINITION MOVING INTO THE LATTER PART OF THE WEEK AND INTO THE WEEKEND. PW VALUES WILL DROP BELOW 1.5 INCHES ACROSS THE AREA ON FRIDAY AND EXPECT THE MAJORITY OF THE FORECAST AREA WILL REMAIN DRY ON FRIDAY AND INTO SATURDAY. PRECIPITATION WILL RETURN TO THE FORECAST ON SUNDAY AS A SHORTWAVE TROUGH ROTATES THROUGH NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT. MODELS HAVE BEEN FAIRLY CONSISTENT WITH THIS FEATURE AND CONTINUED HIGH POPS LATE IN THE WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK. KEPT HIGH TEMPERATURES IN THE MID-80S DURING DAYS WHEN WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED AND WENT FOR LOW TO MID 90S DURING THE DRIER DAYS. 05/MA && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GADSDEN 71 82 71 88 69 / 50 70 50 30 10 ANNISTON 72 82 71 88 70 / 30 70 60 30 10 BIRMINGHAM 75 84 72 89 71 / 30 70 40 30 10 TUSCALOOSA 76 89 73 91 73 / 30 60 40 20 10 CALERA 73 85 72 89 71 / 30 70 50 30 10 AUBURN 73 81 70 86 70 / 20 70 60 50 20 MONTGOMERY 75 88 73 91 73 / 30 60 50 30 20 TROY 73 87 72 89 72 / 60 50 60 50 20 && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 08/56/05
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1045 PM CDT TUE JUL 30 2013 ALZ011>015-017>050-010345- 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- 1045 PM CDT TUE JUL 30 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE THROUGH AROUND 1 AM GENERALLY SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 85 WITH A CLUSTER OF NEARLY STATIONARY STORMS. SOME FLASH FLOODING IS POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT MAY BE NEEDED DUE TO FLOODING CONCERNS TONIGHT. 08/MK
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Several hours of heavy rainfall led to rainfall accumulations of approximately 3.57 inches. This led to about 6 inches of flowing water over several roadways in downtown Troy, including Elm Street, which was temporarily impassable due to the high water.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, July 2013
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: 473359.