Near normal rainfall during the month of April did not significantly improve drought conditions for portions of west central Alabama.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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.
Near normal rainfall during the month of April did not significantly improve drought conditions for portions of west central Alabama.
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 Mar 31, 10:59 PM CST, 1 hour 1 minute earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Birmingham AL 1159 PM CDT Fri Mar 31 2017 .UPDATE... For 06Z Aviation. && .SHORT TERM... Pleasant weather conditions tonight as surface high pressure extends in the southeastern conus from the upper Plains. With a drier airmass in place and light boundary layer winds, do not expect widespread fog development. Lows will fall into the mid to upper 40s across the north, and lower 50s elsewhere. Did not make many changes to the extended forecast, except for minor changes to pop and qpf grids for the system moving in Sunday night. There remains quite a bit of uncertainty regarding how convection to our south effects the airmass across Central Alabama. Will not make any changes to the wording in the HWO at this time, but continue to check for forecast updates over the weekend. The previous extended discussion is below. 14 .LONG TERM... Saturday through Thursday. Upper-level ridging will be in place over the forecast area Saturday within split upper-level flow. Light northerly flow will be present as a surface ridge axis noses in from a surface high centered over the Midwest. With cooler air remaining well to our north highs will still be warm reaching near to above 80 for most areas. Full sunshine will result in a pleasant first day of April. Light northerly winds will become easterly Saturday night as the surface high moves eastward, and with lower dew points filtering in low temperatures will be in the upper 40s to low 50s. Southerly flow will strengthen on Sunday ahead of the next system, allowing highs to climb well into the 80s. Will mention very small rain chances in the far southwest towards late afternoon for any weak waves in the southwest flow aloft as moisture begins to increase. A potent shortwave trough/upper low will begin to lift northeastward out of Texas Sunday night, as a sub-1000 mb surface low develops and lifts into Arkansas. There are still some timing differences between the models with the GFS continuing to be faster, but a lot of convective contamination is present in its model output. Will continue to favor the more consistent timing of the ECMWF and its ensembles which also has support from the Canadian and NAM. Quite a bit of convection will develop across the Arklatex region Sunday afternoon due to strong forcing for ascent and PWATs of 1.5 to 1.8 inches. This activity will progress eastward Sunday night with strongly diffluent upper- level flow noted along the Gulf Coast. Abundant lift and moisture should result in widespread precipitation across the forecast area overnight Sunday and Monday. Will continue to monitor rainfall amounts for any localized flooding issues, but expect the heaviest rainfall amounts to be along the Gulf Coast. Taking a look at the severe weather potential, wind fields are impressive on the synoptic scale with a 90 kt upper jet, 80 kt mid level jet, and a 50-60 kt low level jet. But the mesoscale will continue to dominate as widespread precipitation at the Gulf Coast and inland will likely prevent the effective warm front/warm sector from reaching much of the forecast area. However, looking at the timing of the ECMWF, there may be enough time for upper 60s dewpoints and some surface-based instability to move into the extreme southeast counties of our forecast area ahead of the MCS/squall line. This could provide a window of time for damaging winds and a tornado threat with cells ahead of the line and/or the squall line itself given the strong LLJ. Current thinking is that any severe threat would be confined to areas south of I-85 and perhaps even further south than that. Elsewhere, instability will likely remain elevated with only an isolated strong to severe storm possible. Will maintain a low confidence tornado threat in the HWO mainly for our far southeast counties. The mid-level dry slot will begin to punch in from the southwest by afternoon and put an end to the rain chances, but some wrap- around showers are possible across the north into Monday night. An upper-level trough will begin to amplify across the central and eastern US towards mid-week, with a frontal passage expected during the Wednesday/Wednesday night timeframe. Moisture return currently looks limited with this system. The deep trough forming over the eastern US by the end of the week will result in change to a cooler, less active pattern. Looking ahead to next Friday night, lows may reach the 30s for portions of the area. 32/Davis && .AVIATION... 06Z TAF Discussion. Clear skies and light to calm winds will dominate central Alabama over the next 24 hours. /61/ && .FIRE WEATHER... Dry and mostly clear conditions are expected through Sunday, before clouds and rain return Sunday night and Monday. Critical fire weather conditions are not expected through the next 7 days. && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES/... None. &&
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Birmingham AL 1042 AM CDT Fri Mar 31 2017 ALZ011>015-017>050-011845- 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- 1042 AM CDT Fri Mar 31 2017 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the counties served by the National Weather Service office in Birmingham. .DAY ONE...Outlook Through Tonight. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday. There is a threat of severe thunderstorms, including damaging winds up to 60 mph and isolated tornadoes, across the southern portions of central Alabama on Monday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Activation of storm spotters and Emergency Managers may be needed on Monday.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Near normal rainfall during the month of April maintained the drought intensity at D2.
Near normal rainfall during the month of April maintained the drought intensity at D2.
Near normal rainfall during the month of April maintained the drought intensity at D2.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, April 2017
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: 692295, 692296, 692297.