2005 Weather in Review
CENTRAL ALABAMA WEATHER HAS BEEN VERY ACTIVE SINCE THE 21ST CENTURY STARTED AND THE YEAR 2005 WAS NO EXCEPTION. THE YEAR WAS HIGHLIGHTED BY AN ICE STORM, 5 TROPICAL SYSTEMS, AND A RECORD NUMBER OF DOCUMENTED TORNADOES. THE ACTIVE YEAR WAS CHRISTENED BY AN ICE STORM ON JANUARY 28TH AND 29TH.
FREEZING RAIN FELL ACROSS EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA GENERALLY AFFECTING AREAS EAST OF A LINE FROM GADSDEN TO ROCKFORD TO OPELIKA. WIDESPREAD SIGNIFICANT ICING WAS EXPERIENCED FROM NEAR HEFLIN TO WEDOWEE TO LAFAYETTE. ICE ACCUMULATIONS UP TO ONE INCH WERE OBSERVED. THE ICE PRODUCED WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES AND CAUSED NUMEROUS TREES TO BREAK UNDER THE WEIGHT OF THE ICE. THE 2005 ATLANTIC BASIN HURRICANE SEASON WAS UNPRECEDENTED IN NUMBER. THIRTY TROPICAL SYSTEMS FORMED IN THE ATLANTIC BASIN; 27 WERE NAMED STORMS, 13 WERE HURRICANES, AND 7 WERE MAJOR HURRICANES. FIVE OF THESE TROPICAL SYSTEMS DIRECTLY AFFECTED CENTRAL ALABAMA. ARLENE AFFECTED CENTRAL ALABAMA JUNE 11TH AND 12TH. ARLENE`S AFFECTS WERE RATHER MINOR AND WAS THE WEAKEST OF THE TROPICAL SYSTEMS TO MOVE INTO CENTRAL ALABAMA. ARLENE PRODUCED RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 5 INCHES, WITH THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS WEST OF INTERSTATE 65. ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND GUSTS WERE BETWEEN 30 AND 40 MILES AN HOUR. SEVERAL TREES AND POWER LINES WERE BLOWN DOWN AREAWIDE. MINOR LOCAL FLOODING AND RIVER FLOODING OCCURRED. CINDY AFFECTED CENTRAL ALABAMA ON JULY 6TH. CINDY`S OUTER BANDS PRODUCED EIGHT TORNADOES; 2 IN AUTAUGA COUNTY, 2 IN MACON COUNTY, 2 IN ELMORE COUNTY, 1 IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY, 1 IN TALLAPOOSA COUNTY, 1 IN CHAMBERS COUNTY, AND 1 IN LEE COUNTY. ALL OF THESE TORNADOES WERE RATED F0 OR F1 ON THE FUJITA DAMAGE INTENSITY SCALE. THE F1 TORNADO IN MACON COUNTY INJURED ONE MAN WHILE HE WAS WORKING IN HIS BODY SHOP. ALL OF THE TORNADOES OCCURRED DURING DAY LIGHT HOURS. NUMEROUS TREES WERE SNAPPED OFF AS A RESULT OF THE TORNADOES. DENNIS AFFECTED CENTRAL ALABAMA ON JULY 10TH. THIS WAS THE SECOND TROPICAL SYSTEM TO AFFECT THE AREA WITHIN A WEEK. DENNIS`S LOCAL AFFECTS WERE WIDESPREAD ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA. RAIN AMOUNTS WERE WERE GENERALLY 2 TO 6 INCHES, THE HEAVIEST RAIN OCCURRED WEST OF INTERSTATE 65. THE HEAVY RAIN PRODUCED FLASH FLOODING IN SEVERAL LOCATIONS AND A FEW HOMES SUSTAINED MINOR DAMAGE. A FEW ROADS AND BRIDGES WERE WASHED OUT. MINOR RIVER FLOODING ENSUED FROM THE WIDESPREAD RAINFALL. ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND GUSTS WERE 70 TO 80 MILES AN HOUR. THESE POWERFUL WINDS PRODUCED DAMAGE IN ALL 39 COUNTIES ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA. THOUSANDS OF TREES WEE BLOWN DOWN AND POWER OUTAGES WERE WIDESPREAD. TWO INJURIES WERE SUSTAINED DUE TO FALLEN TREES. KATRINA AFFECTED CENTRAL ALABAMA ON AUGUST 29TH. AFTER THE CATASTROPHIC DAMAGE ENDURED ALONG THE GULF COAST AND IN NEW ORLEANS, KATRINA MOVED TOWARD CENTRAL ALABAMA. RAINFALL WAS A RATHER MINOR CONTRIBUTOR, WITH ONLY 1 TO 5 INCHES OF RAIN REPORTED WEST OF INTERSTATE 65. NO FLASH FLOODING OCCURRED AND ONLY MINOR RIVER FLOODING WAS PRODUCED. KATRINA PRODUCED 4 TORNADOES WHICH OCCURRED IN MACON, CALHOUN, BULLOCK, AND TALLAPOOSA COUNTIES. THE BIGGEST STORY WITH KATRINA WAS THE WIND. ESTIMATED WIND GUSTS WERE 80 TO 90 MILES AN HOUR, ESPECIALLY ACROSS SUMTER, MARENGO, AND GREENE COUNTIES. MANY THOUSANDS OF TREES WERE DOWNED AREAWIDE AND POWER OUTAGES WERE WIDESPREAD AND LENGTHY. EXTENSIVE DAMAGE OCCURRED IN ALL 39 COUNTIES IN CENTRAL ALABAMA. NUMEROUS STRUCTURES WERE DAMAGED BY THE FALLEN TREES AND MANY MAJOR ROADWAYS WERE BLOCKED FOR HOURS. RITA AFFECTED CENTRAL ALABAMA ON SEPTEMBER 25TH. THE OUTER BANDS OF RITA PRODUCED ONE THE THE LARGEST SINGLE DAY TORNADO OUTBREAKS IN ALABAMA HISTORY. RITA ACCOUNTED FOR 21 TORNADOES IN CENTRAL ALABAMA IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS. TUSCALOOSA COUNTY ENDURED 10 OF THESE TORNADOES, 3 F1`S AND 7 F0`S. SEVERAL OF THESE TORNADOES AFFECTED AREAS NEAR ELROD AND BUHL. TWO PEOPLE WERE INJURED IN TUSCALOOSA COUNTY. OTHER COUNTIES THAT EXPERIENCED MULTIPLE TORNADOES INCLUDE, GREENE, PICKENS, WINSTON, LAMAR AND FAYETTE. SUMTER AND MARION OBSERVED ONE TORNADO EACH. MOST OF THESE TORNADOES OCCURRED DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS AND MANY WERE CAPTURED ON FILM OR VIDEO. DUE TO THE ABNORMALLY HIGH AMOUNT TROPICALLY INDUCED TORNADOES, THE STATE OF ALABAMA HAS OBSERVED A RECORD NUMBER OF DOCUMENTED TORNADOES IN A YEAR. AS OF THIS WRITING, THE PRELIMINARY NUMBER OF TORNADOES STATEWIDE WAS 74. THE PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 55 IN 2001. IN FACT, THE 39 CENTRAL ALABAMA COUNTIES SERVED BY THE BIRMINGHAM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE HAVE OBSERVED 55 TORNADOES, THE PREVIOUS RECORD FOR THE ENTIRE STATE. THE PREVIOUS RECORD FOR CENTRAL ALABAMA COUNTIES WAS 34 TORNADOES IN 2000. BASED ON DATA FROM 1961 THROUGH 2001, THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF TORNADOES IN A YEAR FOR CENTRAL ALABAMA WAS 17. THE YEAR 2005 RECEIVED AN ASTOUNDING 324 PERCENT OF NORMAL. PRELIMINARY SEVERE WEATHER STATISTICS: DAYS WITH TORNADOES..........9 DAYS WITH SEVERE WINDS.......36 DAYS WITH SEVERE HAIL........32 DAYS WITH FLASH FLOODING.....20 PRELIMINARY DATA: HOTTEST DAY BIRMINGHAM.....97 AUG 21ST MONTGOMERY.....98 AUG 21ST ANNISTON.......98 AUG 21ST TUSCALOOSA.....99 AUG 21ST CALERA.........95 AUG 21ST TROY...........96 SEVERAL DAYS COLDEST DAY BIRMINGHAM.....18 JAN 24TH MONTGOMERY.....19 DEC 22ND ANNISTON.......16 JAN 24TH TUSCALOOSA.....19 JAN 24TH CALERA.........20 JAN 24TH TROY...........18 JAN 24TH WETTEST DAY BIRMINGHAM.....2.48" MAY 29TH MONTGOMERY.....3.65" MAR 27TH ANNISTON.......1.74" NOV 21ST TUSCALOOSA.....3.51" SEP 10TH CALERA.........3.17" JUL 10TH TROY...........2.66" MAR 27TH WETTEST MONTH BIRMINGHAM.....9.50" JUL MONTGOMERY.....10.35" MAR ANNISTON.......6.62" JUL TUSCALOOSA.....7.13" JUN CALERA.........9.83" JUL TROY...........9.44" AUG DAYS GREATER THAN 90 DEGREES: BIRMINGHAM.....54 MONTGOMERY.....86 ANNISTON.......46 TUSCALOOSA.....84 CALERA.........35 TROY...........50 DAYS GREATER THAN 95 DEGREES: BIRMINGHAM.....6 MONTGOMERY.....18 ANNISTON.......3 TUSCALOOSA.....18 CALERA.........0 TROY...........3 DAYS LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO 32 DEGREES: BIRMINGHAM.....36 MONTGOMERY.....34 ANNISTON.......48 TUSCALOOSA.....44 CALERA.........36 TROY...........39 DAYS LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO 20 DEGREES: BIRMINGHAM.....4 MONTGOMERY.....3 ANNISTON.......4 TUSCALOOSA.....2 CALERA.........1 TROY...........3 ADDITIONAL YEAR END STATISTICS WILL BE ADDED AND UPDATED DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF JANUARY 2006 WHEN ALL THE DATA HAS BEEN COMPILED. THE DATA IN THIS DOCUMENT SHOULD BE TREATED AS PRELIMINARY. $$ LINHARES