A shortwave trough approaching the Mississippi Valley from the central Great Plains, along with a surface low in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico and stationary boundary along the Gulf Coast, contributed to widespread showers moving across Central Alabama during the morning hours of March 1. A ridge located over the East Coast promoted easterly surface winds across the area, with temperatures in…
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The episode as NWS BMX wrote it up.
A shortwave trough approaching the Mississippi Valley from the central Great Plains, along with a surface low in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico and stationary boundary along the Gulf Coast, contributed to widespread showers moving across Central Alabama during the morning hours of March 1. A ridge located over the East Coast promoted easterly surface winds across the area, with temperatures in the upper 40s to lower 50s. A particularly heavy band of rain, oriented from southern Lamar County to northern Jefferson County to Cherokee County, dropped as much as 3-4 inches of rain, locally up to 5 inches, across a narrow swath. This resulted in numerous flooded roadways, mainly along waterways and in low lying areas, where drainage was slower to occur.
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 1, 6:28 AM CST, 1 hour 32 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Birmingham AL 628 AM CST Fri Mar 1 2024 ...New AVIATION... .SHORT TERM... (Today through Saturday) Issued at 414 AM CST FRI MAR 1 2024 Our surface ridge center currently stretches from NY to NC with ESE flow into C AL. In the upper levels, we have SW flow into C AL. An opening upper low/shortwave over KS currently will swing through the SW flow NEWD and continue to open up/weaken as it approaches the Great Lakes by Sat 12z. It continues to weaken further and become absorbed into the mean flow by Sun 00z over Quebec. Showers and a few thunderstorms at times will swing across C AL today into tonight, with the more widespread activity during the day today. Even so, QPF amounts are not terribly heavy, with around 0.4 - 1.0 inch expected between now and Sat afternoon. Rain chances will slowly decrease tonight as the system pulls further away and the upper flow over AL becomes more weak/zonal. Only a small chance of a shower/storm is possible across mainly the SE half of the area by Saturday during the day. Temperatures will remain on the cool side today with cloudy skies and rainy conditions at times. Overnight lows will be a few degrees milder tonight, in the mid 40s-mid 50s instead of low 40s-low 50s. However, with less rainfall expected, highs Saturday should be 10 plus degrees milder. 08 && .LONG TERM... (Saturday night through next Thursday) Issued at 200 AM CST FRI MAR 1 2024 Mid-level ridging will build along the East Coast Saturday night through Sunday night behind the departing shortwave, downstream of broad troughing over the western CONUS. Low-level flow will be southerly between a low pressure system lifting across the Northern Plains and high pressure over the eastern CONUS/western Atlantic. While most will remain dry, with the southerly flow and somewhat enhanced low-level moisture some isolated showers will be possible during this period and perhaps an isolated storm. Temperatures should warm up nicely on Sunday with the southerly flow and will go above NBM on high temperatures. A generally weak though potentially convectively enhanced shortwave associated with the subtropical jet will begin to approach the area Monday and move through Monday night and Tuesday. It will pull some higher PWATs northward resulting in increasing chances of showers and a few storms and possibly an MCS near the coast. Forcing and shear look too weak for any organized severe storms outside of any mesoscale enhancements. At this time the most likely scenario for rainfall amounts is in the 1 to 1.8 inch range, suggesting just beneficial rainfall, though reasonable worst case scenario/90th percentile rainfall amounts around 3 inches could cause some minor flooding. Behind Tuesday's wave, the pattern remains unsettled with shortwaves in quasi-zonal flow aloft and an ill-defined frontal boundary in the vicinity, with medium (30 to 50%) rain chances and temperatures remaining above normal. 32/Davis && .AVIATION... (12Z TAFS) Issued at 625 AM CST FRI MAR 1 2024 Showers along with a few embedded TS at times (with less chance for TS tonight) will be possible at TAF sites today associated with an upper shortwave. Cigs are currently MVFR for most, or will be soon. Cigs will deteriorate further after a couple of hours to IFR and below. Although cigs should remain low throughout the remainder of the forecast, they should generally stay above minimums. Some reduced visibilities will be possible with any heavier showers at times. 08 && .FIRE WEATHER... Widespread showers and a few thunderstorms are expected today. Rain chances diminish from northwest to southeast tomorrow. RH values will be well above critical values. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Gadsden 52 44 66 47 / 100 60 10 10 Anniston 54 46 68 50 / 100 60 20 10 Birmingham 54 49 69 52 / 100 60 10 10 Tuscaloosa 57 49 71 53 / 100 60 10 10 Calera 55 49 69 53 / 100 60 20 10 Auburn 54 49 69 54 / 90 50 30 20 Montgomery 59 52 71 55 / 100 40 20 10 Troy 62 54 74 57 / 100 50 30 20 && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && SHORT TERM...08 LONG TERM....32/Davis AVIATION...08
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Birmingham AL 413 AM CST Fri Mar 1 2024 ALZ011>015-017>050-021315- 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- 413 AM CST Fri Mar 1 2024 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. 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.
6 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Several reports were received of flooded roadways in southern Lamar County, especially the Kennedy area, after 2 to 4 inches of rain fell during the morning hours.
Several reports were received of flooded roadways in southern Walker County, especially the Oakman and Cordova areas, after 2 to 4 inches of rain fell during the morning hours. One roadway near Cordova was washed away and rendered impassable.
Up to 4 inches of rainfall across northern Jefferson County during the morning led to several flooded roadways, especially in the Morris, Warrior, and West Jefferson areas. Self Creek Rd along Self Creek remained impassable into the afternoon.
Up to 4 inches of rainfall across southern Blount County during the morning led to several flooded roadways, including Highway 75 and House Rd near Remlap, River Rd near Highland Lake, and Fall Branch Rd along the Blount/St. Clair county line.
Flooding was observed in parts of Etowah County after 2 to 3 inches of rainfall fell during the morning of March 1. Some roadways such as Tidmore Bend Rd, Cedar Bend Rd, and Lumley Rd were covered by standing water. Attalla City Park had standing water up to 6 inches deep in some places.
Roadways around Centre and Cedar Bluff, including Alexis Rd, County Road 22, County Road 118, County Road 617, and County Road 380, were blocked by standing water after up to 2 inches of rainfall.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, March 2024
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: 1154384, 1154391, 1154393, 1154701, 1154725, 1154730.