The first week of July 2013 was a wet one as a plume of tropical moisture streamed northward from the Gulf of Mexico, across the southeastern United States, and northeastward along the Appalachians. With a persistent mid level trough to its west and a ridge to its east, this stream of moisture continued for many 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.
The first week of July 2013 was a wet one as a plume of tropical moisture streamed northward from the Gulf of Mexico, across the southeastern United States, and northeastward along the Appalachians. With a persistent mid level trough to its west and a ridge to its east, this stream of moisture continued for many days. Precipitable water values reached over two inches locally and after several days of widespread rainfall, ground conditions became saturated. On Thursday, July 4th and Friday, July 5th, heavy rain bands set up across portions of Central Alabama and caused isolated flash flooding. Isolated rainfall amounts across portions of northwest Central Alabama reached over four inches.
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 4, 1:43 PM CST, 2 hours 47 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 243 PM CDT THU JUL 4 2013 .UPDATE... MESOSCALE UPDATE. && .DISCUSSION... THIS IS ONE OF THE MORE INTERESTING NON-TROPICAL CYCLONE WEATHER PATTERNS I'VE SEEN IN THE MONTH OF JULY. BROAD SWATH OF CLOUDS AND RAIN FROM THE GULF COAST ALL THE WAY UP TO THE OHIO VALLEY HAS CREATED A RATHER LARGE "COLD POOL"...WEDGED IN BETWEEN TWO AIR MASSES THAT FEATURE TEMPS WELL UP INTO THE 80S. THE RAIN PATTERN ACROSS ALABAMA TODAY HAS BEEN A LOT LIKE YESTERDAY...WITH A LARGE RAIN SHIELD IN THE SOUTHEASTERN AND EAST CENTRAL COUNTIES (REMAINING EITHER STEADY STATE OR SLIGHT DECREASING DURING THE DAY) AND A BANDED AREA OF HEAVIER RAIN/STORMS TO THE NORTH AND WEST (THAT GREW HEAVIER AND MORE WIDESPREAD AS CONDITIONS BECAME MORE UNSTABLE THERE IN THE AFTERNOON). THROW IN A MESO-LOW FEATURE COMING UP INTO THE SOUTHEAST FROM THE FL PANHANDLE. THUNDERSTORMS WITH ACTUAL CG LIGHTNING STRIKES HAVE BEEN HARD TO COME BY IN ALABAMA...WITH AN OCCASIONAL STRIKE BEING NOTED NORTH AND WEST OF I-20/I-65. IT LOOKS LIKE HIGH POPS WILL REMAIN WARRANTED TONIGHT. HAVING SAID THAT...THERE MAY BE A ZONE (DIAGONALLY ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA) THAT WILL SEE RELATIVELY LOW AMOUNTS THROUGH AT LEAST THE EVENING HOURS. WHETHER OR NOT THAT'S ENOUGH TO CANCEL/POSTPONE ANY FIREWORKS DISPLAYS -- THAT'S FOR THE PYROTECHNIC EXPERTS TO DECIDE. MODELS DO INDICATE A STEADY STREAM OF GULF MOISTURE CONTINUING OVERNIGHT. THERE'S A CHANCE THAT THE RAIN COULD FILL BACK IN...AND IF SO BECOME POTENTIALLY HEAVY. WILL KEEP THE LATEST FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONFIGURATION AS IS FOR NOW. /61/ AS WE MOVE INTO TOMORROW...IT APPEARS TO BE A RINSE AND REPEAT WITH THE BEST RAIN CHANCES IN THE EAST ONCE AGAIN...SO THE WATCH WILL CONTINUE AS IS. WILL LEAVE THE NORTHWEST IN THE WATCH AS WELL GIVEN THE AMOUNT OF RAINFALL THAT HAS OCCURRED THERE. IN FACT SOME OF THE COUNTIES IN THE NORTHWEST HAVE RECEIVED MORE RAIN TODAY IN THE NORTHWEST THAN A FEW LOCATIONS IN THE SOUTHEAST. DID GO AHEAD AND CHANGE WORDING IN THE FORECAST TO MORE OF THE INTERMITTENT WORDING GIVEN THE ON AND OFF AGAIN NATURE OF THE SHOWERS. WITH ONGOING WEATHER MADE LITTLE CHANGES TO THE EXTENDED. 16 && .AVIATION... 18Z TAF DISCUSSION. SOME IMPROVEMENT TO CEILINGS EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...WITH GENERALLY MVFR CEILINGS. WITH THE HEAVIER RAIN SHOWERS...BRIEF IFR CAN BE EXPECTED. COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF MOISTURE SHIFTING NORTHWARD FROM THE GULF WITH WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THROUGHOUT THE DAY. WINDS EAST TO SOUTHEAST AND COULD INTENSIFY BRIEFLY ACROSS THE SOUTH FROM NEAR TOI TO MGM THIS AFTERNOON AS A SURFACE LOW DEVELOPS IN THE NORTHERN GULF AND MOVES INLAND BUT SHOULD DIMINISH BY EARLY EVENING. WITH THE ABUNDANT MOISTURE OVER THE AREA...CEILINGS WILL LOVER THIS EVENING AND BE AROUND 300 TO 700 FEET OVERNIGHT. SAME PATTERN TOMORROW AS TODAY. 16 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GADSDEN 70 79 69 80 70 / 60 90 60 60 50 ANNISTON 70 79 69 80 70 / 60 90 60 60 50 BIRMINGHAM 71 81 70 81 71 / 60 80 60 60 50 TUSCALOOSA 71 84 72 83 71 / 50 70 60 70 50 CALERA 70 81 70 81 71 / 50 80 60 70 50 AUBURN 70 79 70 82 70 / 70 90 60 60 40 MONTGOMERY 72 84 72 83 72 / 60 80 60 70 40 TROY 70 81 71 83 71 / 80 80 60 70 40 && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES: AUTAUGA...BARBOUR...BLOUNT...BULLOCK...CALHOUN... CHAMBERS...CHEROKEE...CHILTON...CLAY...CLEBURNE...COOSA... ELMORE...ETOWAH...FAYETTE...JEFFERSON...LAMAR...LEE...LOWNDES... MACON...MARION...MONTGOMERY...PIKE...RANDOLPH...RUSSELL... SHELBY...ST. CLAIR...TALLADEGA...TALLAPOOSA...WALKER...WINSTON. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1131 AM CDT THU JUL 4 2013 ALZ011>015-017>050-051645- 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- 1131 AM CDT THU JUL 4 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THERE IS A VERY SMALL...BUT NON-ZERO...THREAT OF TORNADOES ACROSS ROUGHLY THE EASTERN HALF OF CENTRAL ALABAMA TODAY. PERIODS OF HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS EAST CENTRAL AS WELL AS NORTHWEST ALABAMA MAY RESULT IN LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. CONTINUED HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA WILL LEAD TO WIDESPREAD RAINFALL TOTALS OF TWO TO SIX INCHES...WITH ISOLATED HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE...THROUGH AT LEAST SATURDAY MORNING. AS GROUND CONDITIONS BECOME SATURATED AND MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL MOVES ACROSS THE SAME AREAS...FLASH FLOODING WILL BECOME INCREASINGLY POSSIBLE. AN EXPANSION OF THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH MAY ALSO BE NECESSARY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON IF THE TORNADO THREAT INCREASES.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
317 PM CDT THU JUL 4 2013
ALZ038-045>048-050-042145-
BARBOUR AL-BULLOCK AL-CHAMBERS AL-LEE AL-MACON AL-RUSSELL AL-
317 PM CDT THU JUL 4 2013
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTHEASTERN CHAMBERS...
RUSSELL...EASTERN MACON...LEE...NORTHERN BARBOUR AND EASTERN BULLOCK
COUNTIES UNTIL 445 PM CDT...
AT 311 PM CDT...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAS TRACKING SHOWERS
WITH EMBEDDED STRONG WIND GUSTS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM CHAMBERS
COUNTY LAKE TO BOOT HILL...AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.
WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS. SEVERAL
REPORTS OF HIGHER GUSTS HAVE BEEN REPORTED.
LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THESE STORMS INCLUDE...
MIDWAY...
LANETT...
HURTSBORO...
VALLEY...
SMITHS...
&&
LAT...LON 3222 8497 3220 8496 3213 8505 3195 8507
3187 8566 3188 8579 3284 8548 3293 8519
3286 8518 3285 8515 3281 8516 3274 8511
3264 8509 3252 8500 3246 8499 3244 8496
3233 8500 3231 8494 3225 8489
TIME...MOT...LOC 2016Z 218DEG 15KT 3284 8531 3191 8563PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
454 PM CDT THU JUL 04 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0440 PM FLASH FLOOD 1 NW SARDIS 34.24N 87.14W
07/04/2013 WINSTON AL PUBLIC
PORTION OF ROAD WASHED AWAY ALONG CR 80 AT THE ROCK CREEK
BRIDGE. TIME ESTIMATED.
&&
TGOGGINSThe Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 52 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:30 UTC.
4 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
A culvert was washed out on Jackson Robertson Road, just off of Sand Springs Road.
A portion of County Road 80 was washed out at the Rock Creek bridge.
Up to 8 inches of water was flowing across portions of County Road 70, as well as County Road 46, near Brilliant.
Approximately 12 inches of water was covering Highway 13, near Dime Road. Mud slides were also reported along Alabama Avenue, near the old textile plant.
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: 468638, 468631, 468640, 468642.