Floods of August 2001

August 2001 Floods

The remnants of Tropical Storm Barry moved across parts of Central and North Alabama on August 5th through the 6th. Although it did not produce very heavy rainfall across the area, Barry left a tropical air mass across the region in its wake. Showers and thunderstorms, over the next several days, produced locally heavy rainfall across parts of North and Central Alabama. The most noteable rainfall occurred on the morning of August 10th across parts of Madison, Marshall and Morgan counties in North Alabama.

Showers and thunderstorms developed around 3:00 am on the morning of August 10th across parts of south Madison County. The rain continued to develop and spread across parts of Marshall County and the east section of Morgan County. A radar animation from the Hytop radar shows showers and thunderstorms moving over parts of Madison County, then becoming more enhanced and widespread after 3:00 am. Although the rain was moving southeast, redevelopment was occurring over the same sections of these counties. This persistent heavy rainfall produced flooding of many roads and bridges. The runoff from the heavy rainfall caused soil erosion that downed trees and caused local creeks and streams to rise out of their banks.

Shelby County Airport, KBMX, radar's Storm Total Precipitation image end at 8:15 am CDT.

Radar rainfall estimates from the WSR-88D located at Shelby County Airport near Alabaster, Alabama (KBMX, shown above) showed mostly 3 to 5 inches across the area, with spots of 6 to 8 inches. Local observerations of rainfall amounts across this area ranged from 2 to 8 inches of rainfall. Areas such as New Hope, Owens Crossroads, Lacey Springs, Arab and Union Grove were the most impacted with rainfall amounts ranging from 4 to 8 inches.

Weather Data

Rainfall table and graphic.
August 09-10, 2001 24 hour rainfall amounts across the region.
August 10-11, 2001 24 hour rainfall amounts across the region.

Resources

CHARM or Cooperative Huntsville Area Rainfall Measurements (Alabama)