Well, we had a little bit of everything this year. We started the year off with severe and wintry weather, then transitioned to severe weather and flooding during the spring. In fact, we experienced two tornado outbreaks in the month of March, including several strong tornadoes on March 25th. During the summer, two tropical systems, Claudette and Ida, brought heavy rains and a couple tornadoes to the forecast area. The good news is that we managed to avoid any major heat waves. The fall severe weather season was, thankfully, fairly quiet overall for Central Alabama.
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2021 Headline Stories |
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The year 2021 was an above average year for rainfall in most locations across Central Alabama. There were several significant flash flood events over the year. One of the worst events occurred on the evening of October 6. Heavy bands of torrential rain set up over the Jefferson and Shelby county areas. Some measured amounts of 13+ were reported in and around the cities of Helena and Pelham. There were 2 fatalities in the Hoover area as a car was swept off the road and into a creek. Numerous water rescues were reported throughout Jefferson and Shelby counties. Below is an image of the extreme rainfall totals across the two county area. |
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The Tuscaloosa county area was affected on two separate occasions by significant flash flooding. One man was killed on September 18th as his car was swept away from high water. In June, the remnants of Claudette caused considerable damage to the Northport area as high water swept through area neighborhoods. River flooding occurred on all the major waterways at various times during the year. While no major flood stages were reached, there were some moderate stages with perhaps the most significant coming along the banks of the Tombigbee river at Pickensville on June 13th. Heavy rainfall created significant rises along this section of the river with approximately 90 houses damaged by flood waters. Below is the stage graph for the flooding on June 13th at the Bevill Lock and Dam. |
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Additional Information can be found at the following links: |
Data supplied by the NWS BMX. Additional information can be found at the following links: |
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The 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season was a historically significant year. The 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season featured record breaking activity. There were 30 named storms, of which 13 became hurricanes and 6 that became major hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5) The 30 named storms is the most ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin. The previous record was 28 back in 2005. In an average season, there are 12 named storms, 6 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes. 2020 marks the fifth consecutive above-normal Atlantic hurricane season. The only other period on record that produced four consecutive above-normal seasons was 1998-2001. The Atlantic Hurricane Basin has recorded 18 above-normal seasons out of the past 26 years. Based on the Accumulated Cyclone Energy Index (ACE), which measures the combined intensity and duration of the storms during the season and is used to classify the strength of the entire hurricane season, activity in the Atlantic basin in 2019 was well above the long-term mean. Central Alabama was directly impacted by Hurricane Sally and Hurricane Zeta.
Data provided by the NWS BMX and NHC. |
Central Alabama was the recipient of 35 tornadoes in 2020. This number was just slightly above the normal for a year, which ranges from 26-35 depending on the time frame utilized. All 35 of the tornadoes occurred on 9 distinct days. The average numbers of Tornado Days in Central Alabama is 9. In 7 of the past 10 years, Central Alabama has had at least 9 Tornado Days.
The Central Alabama tornadoes were limited in strength and nothing above an EF2 was observed. Unfortunately, these tornadoes still produced injuries, fatalities and plenty of property damage. Fourteen Alabamians were injured and 4 lost their lives. One of the most devastating tornadoes occurred on January 11th in Pickens County. The EF2 was on the ground for 6.33 miles. Tornadoes occurred in January, February, March, April, August, October, and December in 2020.
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Preliminary Severe Weather Numbers for Alabama & Central Alabama in 2020:
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