Much above normal rainfall during the first half of the month of February erased rainfall deficits across all of Central Alabama and brought all counties below Severe Drought (D2) status.
Every event with a place to put it; 17 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.
Much above normal rainfall during the first half of the month of February erased rainfall deficits across all of Central Alabama and brought all counties below Severe Drought (D2) status.
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 Jan 31, 11:43 PM CST, 17 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Birmingham AL 1143 PM CST Wed Jan 31 2018 .UPDATE... For 06Z Aviation. && .SHORT TERM... Through Tonight. High pressure shifts eastward off the Atlantic coast tonight in advance of a weak upper level trough and surface cold front. Moisture increases, but expect any shower activity to remain quite isolated until after sunrise. Will not carry any pops for the overnight period. With increasing cloud cover and southerly winds, overnight lows will be around 15 degrees warmer tonight, with mid 30s far east to mid 40s west. 14 .LONG TERM... Thursday through Wednesday. An overall unsettled pattern sets up for the extended period with broad upper-level troughing for much of the CONUS and ridging across the Southwest US. Several impulses/shortwave troughs move through the larger-scale trough in the next 7 days, leading to a few rounds of wet weather for Central AL. First, the elongated trough is stretched through the Midwest and Central US on Thursday. A cold front associated with this trough will push through Western TN during the day on Thursday as southwesterly flow picks up across Central AL, increasing moisture in a zone of height falls. High resolution models continue to show at least scattered showers possible early Thursday ahead of the main front that remains off to our north and west through the afternoon. By Thursday night, the front begins to push into our northwestern counties and will slide southeastward through all of Central AL during the overnight hours Thursday night into Friday morning. I have kept mention of rain being likely in the forecast, but it's worth noting that some of the higher resolution models hint at the band of rain along the front breaking apart as it pushes through, so we may not see widespread rain. The front has pushed south of our area by Friday morning, ending our rain chances with high pressure building in across the area. The surface high pressure slides through the Ohio River Valley on Friday and into the Mid-Atlantic States by Saturday morning. This will shift our winds from northerly to a more easterly flow as the 850mb ridge slides across the Gulf States. That ridge has pushed east of us by Saturday afternoon/evening as another trough begins to dig southward through the Great Plains. With troughing to our west and ridging to our east, expect a more southerly flow to develop over Central AL, increasing moisture once again ahead of another cold front. Models have come into better agreement with the overall timing of this weekend's system with a surface low developing and moving through the Gulf States late Saturday night into Sunday. Models still disagree on the strength of this low as it moves through Alabama and into Georgia. The GFS intensifies the Low quicker than the ECMWF does, which results in more wrap-around moisture on the backside of the low. This also brings in the colder air more quickly than the ECMWF. I've continued to edge my forecast closer to the ECMWF, which keeps the trough open at 850mb and the surface low more broad. This pushes the precip out of our area before the sub-freezing temperatures move in, limiting any chances for winter precip across Central AL. The GFS solution would result in at least some small chance of a winter mix in the northern-most counties late Sunday night into Monday morning as the low pressure system is moving out and the upper trough axis swings through. However, since the GFS hasn't shown strong run to run consistency, confidence is low in its solution at this time. A brief period of dry weather expected Monday into Tuesday as the high pressure slides eastward just to our north and we fall under low level ridging. Both the GFS and ECMWF then bring another trough through the region Wednesday into Thursday, which would lead to another round of increased rain chances. Models differ in timing on this system in the middle of next week, but both have it moving through with temperatures above freezing, so don't expect any winter precip concerns with that system either. 25/Owen && .AVIATION... 06Z TAF Discussion. The forecast trend appears on track. Clouds are increasing quickly, and adjusted the ceilings accordingly. Still held everyone in MVFR. Rain chances increase in the afternoon and continue into the evening hours. Winds will be gusty right along the cold front at the tail end of the forecast period. Surface high pressure has pushed east of the area and a cold front was inching our way from the west. This has increased the pressure gradient over the state and therefore the winds. The lightest winds will be southeast overnight while some of the northern terminals remain at 6-9kts. Southerly winds and isentropic lift will allow moisture and subsequent cloud development of the area overnight. It appears the best lift and moisture will be between 015-025. The cold front will affect terminals north by 00z and south around 04z. The best rain chances are near and just behind the front. 75 && .FIRE WEATHER... Rain chances and moisture return tomorrow and tomorrow night, with more significant rain chances expected by Sunday. There are no fire weather concerns. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Gadsden 38 57 33 43 26 / 10 40 70 0 0 Anniston 37 59 35 45 27 / 10 30 70 0 0 Birmingham 46 60 34 45 29 / 10 40 70 0 0 Tuscaloosa 47 63 36 48 29 / 10 40 70 0 0 Calera 44 62 36 47 29 / 10 30 70 0 0 Auburn 41 60 41 50 30 / 0 30 50 10 0 Montgomery 45 64 43 51 31 / 10 30 50 10 0 Troy 43 64 45 53 32 / 0 30 40 10 0 && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES/... None. &&
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Birmingham AL 319 AM CST Wed Jan 31 2018 ALZ011>015-017>050-011230- 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- 319 AM CST Wed Jan 31 2018 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...Thursday through Tuesday. 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.
17 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Significant rainfall during the first half of the month of February lowered the drought intensity to a D0 category.
Significant rainfall during the first half of the month of February lowered the drought intensity to a D1 category.
Significant rainfall during the first half of the month of February lowered the drought intensity to a D0 category.
Significant rainfall during the first half of the month of February lowered the drought intensity to a D0 category.
Significant rainfall during the first half of the month of February lowered the drought intensity to a D0 category.
Significant rainfall during the first half of the month of February lowered the drought intensity to a D1 category.
Significant rainfall during the first half of the month of February lowered the drought intensity to a D1 category.
Significant rainfall during the first half of the month of February lowered the drought intensity to a D1 category.
Significant rainfall during the first half of the month of February lowered the drought intensity to a D1 category.
Significant rainfall during the first half of the month of February lowered the drought intensity to a D1 category.
Significant rainfall during the first half of the month of February lowered the drought intensity to a D1 category.
Significant rainfall during the first half of the month of February lowered the drought intensity to a D1 category.
Significant rainfall during the first half of the month of February lowered the drought intensity to a D1 category.
Significant rainfall during the first half of the month of February lowered the drought intensity to a D1 category.
Significant rainfall during the first half of the month of February lowered the drought intensity to a D1 category.
Significant rainfall during the first half of the month of February lowered the drought intensity to a D1 category.
Significant rainfall during the first half of the month of February lowered the drought intensity to a D1 category.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, February 2018
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: 741885, 741886, 741888, 741889, 741890, 741892, 741894, 741895, 741896, 741897, 741898, 741899, 741900, 741901, 741902, 741903, 741904.