Alabama’s Top Weather Events of 2013

Here is my look back at the top weather events of 2013. Make sure to chime in with your memories, events I overlooked or underrated, as well as your thoughts on the list.

March Derecho:

On March 18th, a strong derecho caused widespread tree, power line and structural damage across a large part of North Central Alabama. The powerful line of storms entered the state during the early afternoon and raced eastward, with widespread 60-70 mph winds. Winds gusted to 88 mph on Weiss Lake BEFORE the anemometer broke! There were a total of 151 wind and hail reports across the state. Thirteen people were injured.

April 11th Tornado:

A relatively minor severe weather outbreak produced two dozen tornadoes across Mississippi and Alabama, but one EF3 long track tornado did move into western Alabama’s Pickens County before lunch. The tornado was very photogenic since it was not rain wrapped like many Alabama tornadoes.

January Snow:

On January 17th, an upper level low pressure system caused dynamic cooling that allowed snow to fall across North and Central Alabama despite temperatures in the 40s. Birmingham picked up 2.1 inches. Cullman saw 4 inches. A traffic nightmare developed along I-65 between Decatur and Cullman that evening as thousands of cars were stranded. The jam finally cleared late that night.

January Wake Low/Gravity Wave

A convective system triggered a wake low and gravity wave event across Central Alabama on the evening of January 10th. Trees and power lines were downed across parts of Pickens, Fayette, Sumter, Greene, Tuscaloosa, and Jefferson Counties. Many in these areas lost power. Winds gusted to 74 mph atop the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse.

Montgomery Rains:

The state’s capital city recorded two or more inches of rain on three consecutive days February 10-12, with 2.82 inches on the 12th, and a three-day period total of 7.50 inches. A total of 13.36 inches of rain fell in the month, just 0.02 inches short of the all time February record set in 1961.

Birmingham’s Wettest Day

A northward moving warm front produced heavy rain on June 5th, even as Tropical Storm Andrea was forming in the Gulf. The rains were not related directly to the tropical system. A rain amount of 3.57” fell at the Birmingham Airport, the station’s wettest day of 2013. Substantial flooding was reported in parts of the city. There were numerous flash flood warnings across other parts of Central Alabama.

Quiet Severe Weather Year:

Alabama experienced 23 tornadoes in 2013. This is well beneath the 30-year average (1983-2012) of 43. The ten year average (70) is severely skewed by the 2011 totals, which saw 145 tornadoes in the state. The state was not alone in experiencing a tornado drought. The rest of the country saw below average tornado counts as well.

Image Source: USA Today November 16, 2013

Cool Summer:

There was no 100F reading in the state of Alabama during the summer. It was only the sixth time since 1883 that has happened. The only other years were 1965, 1974, 1994, 2001, and 2003. The highs on the Fourth of July were 77F at Birmingham and 76F at Anniston. The 76F at Anniston was the coolest Independence Day ever there and the Birmingham temperature was within one degree of the all time cool record high for the date. Then starting on August 15th, Birmingham recorded four straight days with highs in the 70s, including highs of 79F, 70F, 73F and 75F respectively. That has never happened in Birmingham.

Impressive Rainfall Surpluses:

Some reporting stations across the state reporting whopping rainfall surpluses in 2013, like Anniston at +25.85 and Birmingham at +14.41. Dothan had a +24.14 surplus. Interestingly, Tuscaloosa finished with a deficit of -1.11 inches. Of course that is before any rain we receive today. By May 9th, all remaining drought was erased across the state of Alabama. By the end of the year, only a small part of the state was experiencing drought conditions and generous rainfall on the final weekend of the year likely erased that.

Rainfall Departure from Normal Year to Date 2013

Category: Alabama's Weather, Met 101/Weather History