Drought Information Statement for Central Alabama Valid January 16, 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 13, 2026 Drought intensity and Extent D4 Exceptional Drought: None. D3 Extreme Drought: None. D2 and D1 Severe and Moderate Drought: Mainly across the southern counties with a small strip in the northwest. D0 Abnormally Dry: Mainly covering the northern and central counties. Recent Change in Drought Intensity National Weather Service Birmingham, AL Four Week Drought Monitor Class Change. Drought Worsened: In the northwest and southeast counties. No Change and Drought Improvement: Most of the area either experienced no change or a one category drought improvement. Precipitation Last 30 days National Weather Service Birmingham, AL Dry conditions persist across much of the deep south over the past 30 days. The recent heavy rainfall event did allow for many locations in central Alabama to temporarily catch up with rainfall deficits. Most other locations are still below average for the past month. 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 beginning to fall to below and 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. 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 Scattered light rainfall is expected through January 23rd. This is not enough to improve the drought conditions in place across the area and some decline in the drought status is likely next week for parts of the area. Image Caption: Weather Prediction Center 7-day precipitation forecast valid through January 23. Rapid Onset Drought Outlook National Weather Service Birmingham, AL Continued hot temperatures and a lack of rainfall over the next 1-2 weeks will lead to continued Rapid Onset Drought impacts in south-central Texas. Medium-Range Outlooks National Weather Service Birmingham, AL The seasonal outlook for the next 3 month period is calling for a higher chance of above average temperatures. Rainfall probabilities during this same time-frame lend to a near average to slightly below average pattern. If this pattern verifies, it would lend towards potential improvement across the north and persistent or worsening drought conditions in the south. Drought Outlook National Weather Service Birmingham, AL The latest seasonal outlook released by the CPC on January 15th shows no areas of improvement across our southern counties with some potential improvement across the north.