Archive for May 13th, 2012
Flood Advisory for Jefferson County
Storms in the Birmingham metro are weakening, but heavy rain has fallen.
Flooding is being reported at Messer Airport Highway and 41st street and and 8th Avenue and 31st Street according to the NWS.
They have issued an areal flood advisory for Jefferson County. This is a step short of a flash flood warning.
One hour rainfall estimates according to Doppler radar were between one half and 1.5 inches from Fultondale to Legion Field through North Birmingham over to Woodlawn.
Be alert to ponding on roads and don’t drive into standing or flowing water. Creeks and streams may also leave their banks temporarily.
Storms Intensify in the Birmingham Area
Storms have intensified in the Birmingham metro area, but they are not severe.
They extend from east of Fultondale to east of Tarrant to Woodlawn.
They will be moving past Crestline, Eastwood Mall, Irondale and Liberty Park as they push southeastward over the next 30 minutes.
The storms extend back through downtown Birmingham into western sections around Hueytown and Bessemer.
There will be heavy rain and lightning. There might even be some small hail.
Alabama at 7 p.m.
A cold front is approaching I-65 at this hour from Decatur to Birmingham.
Showers and storms are preceding it.
The storms extend on south southwestward through Bibb, Perry, Hale and Marengo Counties.
Actually, it’s hard to call the activity storms, since there is little lightning in most of them. Did just some booming thunder here in Trussville, though.
Nothing severe at this time, and no problems expected.
Skies will clear fairly quickly behind the front. Dewpoints will drop overnight. There could be some fog, but it shouldn’t be widespread as dewpoint depressions are expected to remain wide enough to preclude much development.
Overnight lows will drop into the lower 60s for the most part.
Tornado Reported Near Decatur
6:44 Tornado warning for Limestone and Morgan Counties has been allowed to expire.
6:38 UPDATE: The storm near Decatur is weakening. No reports of any damage. The tornado, if it touched down at all, was probably a small spin up. There still is a tornado warning for Morgan and southern Limestone County.
UPDATE: 6:27
Andy Kula from the NWS Huntsville reports funnel looking west from the 565/65 interchange.
ORIGINAL POST
At 6:21, a tornado was reported near Decatur.
The NWS Huntsville has posted a tornado warning for Limestone and Morgan Counties.
The tornado is moving east very slowly, near 10 mph.
Communities in the warning include Decatur, Moorevile and Priceville. The tornado will cross I-65 just south of I-565.
Scattered Showers and Storms
Scattered showers and thunderstorms continue to move northeast across Alabama this afternoon ahead of an approaching upper level trough.
There seems to be a weak upper level disturbance swinging across the Birmingham Metro area right now. you can see a bit of a comma shaped appearance in the radar echoes.
The main concentration of storms is now in the curved shape of that comma now extending from Walker around through Cullman, Blount, Etowah, St. Clair, Calhoun, Talladega, Clay, Chilton, Coosa and Tallapoosa Counties.
The only lightning right now in Central Alabama is in Coosa, Tallapoosa and Macon Counties.
There is heavy rain and perhaps some small hail around Alex City right now.
The showers and small, but feature intense rainfall for a brief time. They can drop one half inch of rain in 30 minutes.
No warnings have been issued in Alabama since the tornado warning at 2 p.m. down around Chambers, Lee and Tallapoosa Counties. Significant weather alerts are in effect until 3:45 for Barbour, Bullock and Macon Counties in Southeast Alabama.
A few showers dot western Alabama, west of I-65, but they are far less concentrated and more widely spaced.
The activity will gradually diminish tonight as the surface low pushes slowly east across the Tennessee Valley into Georgia. Tomorrow will feature improving conditions.
