Drought Information Statement for Central Alabama Valid January 9, 2026 Issued By: NWS Birmingham, AL Contact Information: sr-bmx.webmaster@noaa.gov This product will be updated only if drought conditions change significantly. Please see all currently available products at https://drought.gov/drought-information-statements. Please visit https://www.weather.gov/bmx/DroughtInformationStatement for previous statements. U.S. Drought Monitor National Weather Service Birmingham, AL Image Caption: U.S. Drought Monitor valid January 6, 2026 Drought intensity and Extent D4 Exceptional Drought: None. D3 Extreme Drought: Areas are still located in parts of the southwest. D2 and D1 Severe and Moderate Drought: Covers most of the area not covered in higher drought categories. D0 Abnormally Dry: A small area in west central Alabama covering parts of Lamar, Fayette and Pickens. Recent Change in Drought Intensity National Weather Service Birmingham, AL Four Week Drought Monitor Class Change. Drought Worsened: Scattered about the entire area with the most degradation in the northern counties. No Change: Covers the remainder of the area. Drought Improved: None. Precipitation Last 30 days National Weather Service Birmingham, AL Dry conditions persist across much of the deep south over the past 30 days. Very dry conditions have set in across the areas around US 80 and especially from Demopolis through Selma. All of central Alabama locations received below-average rainfall. January's average weekly rainfall should be around 1.25 inches with monthly totals averaging around 5 inches. Summary of Impacts National Weather Service Birmingham, AL Hydrologic Impacts Streamflows have fluctuated greatly due to recent rainfall but continue an overall decline. At this time, most locations are below to well below normal. Agricultural Impacts No updates from the USDA have been reported. Fire Hazard Impacts There are no fire weather impacts at this time. Drought Mitigation Actions Please refer to your municipality and/or water provider for mitigation information. Hydrologic Conditions and Impacts National Weather Service Birmingham, AL Streamflows are at or near normal across the northern half of the state but remain below across most of the southern half. Click the link to the right for a full map and legend to the image provided. Agricultural Impacts National Weather Service Birmingham, AL Soil Moisture continues a slow but steady decline even as intermittent rainfall occurs. There are no new crop reports at this time. Fire Hazard Impacts National Weather Service Birmingham, AL Keetch Byram Drought Index values are averaging over 600 over most of the central Alabama area. Risks for fires are elevated. Fire Hazard Impacts National Weather Service Birmingham, AL The latest Alabama drought declaration map has all of Alabama in either an advisory, watch or warning status. Seven Day Precipitation Forecast National Weather Service Birmingham, AL Heavy and persistent rainfall will move through the area today and Saturday. The heaviest rainfall will be over the northern and western locations. This will significantly help with drought in those areas and some temporary improvement in the drought status is likely next week. Medium-Range Outlooks The latest monthly and seasonal outlooks can be found on the CPC homepage National Weather Service Birmingham, AL The outlook for the 8-14 day period is calling for near average to below average temperatures. Rainfall probabilities during this same time-frame lend to a near average to slightly above average pattern. Cooler temperatures and average to above average rainfall would improve the current drought conditions as streams and soil moisture would be able to recharge somewhat. Drought Outlook National Weather Service Birmingham, AL The latest seasonal outlook released by the CPC on December 31st shows little to no areas of improvement across central Alabama over the long term. Some areas may be briefly alleviated from drought as frontal systems pass through, however the overall pattern supports a drier than normal bias which will only maintain the current rainfall deficits.