Scattered thunderstorms developed across parts of Central Alabama during the afternoon and evening hours on September 12th, producing tree damage in parts of Jefferson, St. Clair, and Randolph counties.
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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.
Scattered thunderstorms developed across parts of Central Alabama during the afternoon and evening hours on September 12th, producing tree damage in parts of Jefferson, St. Clair, and Randolph counties.
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 Sep 12, 1:03 PM CST, 42 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Birmingham AL 203 PM CDT Tue Sep 12 2023 ...New SHORT TERM, AVIATION... .SHORT TERM... (This evening through Wednesday) Issued at 121 PM CDT TUE SEP 12 2023 Surface cold front is currently analyzed just north of Jackson, Mississippi northeastward to Cullman and Scottsboro. Isolated to scattered convection has developed early this afternoon with most widespread activity across southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle where deeper moisture currently exists and PWATS are above 1.5 inches. While we don't have a tremendous amount of forcing to help develop deeper convection, SBCAPE values between 2000 and 3000 along with effective bulk shear between 20 and 30 knots from the southwest may help develop a few stronger storms this afternoon as temperatures rise into the upper 80s to low 90s. Sounding profiles show plenty of dry air aloft for gusty winds with these storms, so we'll watch those through the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. Most activity should diminish with the loss of daytime heating, but we could still see some isolated shower development along the front during the overnight hours. The front will continue to slowly push southward through the day on Wednesday with most shower and storm activity relegated to the southern half of the area. Mostly cloudy skies will continue, as 700mb moisture will remain in place over much of the southeast. Highs will range from the lower 80s in the northwest behind the front to around 90 ahead of the front, which will eventually stall out somewhere near the U.S. 80/I-85 corridor over the next couple of days. 56/GDG && .LONG TERM... (Thursday through Monday) Issued at 339 AM CDT TUE SEP 12 2023 A split flow pattern will be in place over the CONUS on Thursday, with a confluence zone supporting high pressure east of the Great Plains. Northeasterly low-level flow beneath westerly 700-500 mb flow will result in isentropic lift and the possibility of scattered showers and maybe a thunderstorm or two across our southeastern counties. The upper-level pattern will begin to shift toward more troughing over the Mississippi Valley on Friday, further enhancing the isentropic lift and moisture content over our area. The result should be increasing rain chances as a weak inverted surface trough develops. Saturday could be rather wet as lift continues to increase as height falls overspread the region. Showers could linger across eastern Alabama on Sunday morning before getting swept out with the passage of the upper-level trough axis. A much drier airmass is expected for Monday. 87/Grantham && .AVIATION... (18Z TAFS) Issued at 121 PM CDT TUE SEP 12 2023 VFR conditions will continue through much of the period with VCSH remaining in the forecast through the afternoon and early evening at all terminals. Some TSRA development is expected, but confidence isn't high enough to include a TEMPO group at any one location at this time. Amendments may be needed as we go through the afternoon, with some storms capable of variably gusty winds. Lower MVFR ceilings and at least MVFR visibilities are possible across eastern and southern terminal sites overnight as a weak front moves into the area. VFR conditions will return during the day on Wednesday with broken to overcast mid-level clouds. 56/GDG && .FIRE WEATHER... Scattered showers and a few thunderstorms are possible area wide today before shifting to our southern counties for Wednesday and Thursday. 20 foot winds should be rather minimal today with a westerly. A front will move through tonight with winds shifting to the northeast for Wednesday and Thursday. RH values should remain at 40 percent or higher for the next several days. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Gadsden 65 85 60 82 / 30 20 0 10 Anniston 66 85 62 84 / 30 20 0 10 Birmingham 67 84 64 82 / 30 20 0 10 Tuscaloosa 68 85 64 85 / 30 20 0 10 Calera 68 85 65 85 / 30 30 0 10 Auburn 68 86 66 83 / 30 40 10 20 Montgomery 69 89 68 87 / 30 40 0 20 Troy 69 90 68 87 / 30 50 10 20 && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && SHORT TERM...56/GDG LONG TERM....87 AVIATION...56/GDG
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Birmingham AL 209 AM CDT Tue Sep 12 2023 ALZ011>015-017>050-131015- 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- 209 AM CDT Tue Sep 12 2023 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...Wednesday through Monday. 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 Birmingham radar (KBMX), 54 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:45 UTC.
4 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Several trees were uprooted along Lake Shore Drive and Valley View Road in the vicinity of Recreative Natives nursery.
Multiple trees were uprooted along Highway 48 near Randolph County High School.
A 71 mph gust was measured at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport ASOS station (KBHM) at 7:46 PM CDT.
Several trees were uprooted along Floyd Bradford Road near Leeds.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, September 2023
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: 1134981, 1135003, 1135116, 1135130.