Brookside, Alabama

The Flood Warning continues for
the Cahaba river near Cahaba Heights.
* Until Thursday morning... or until the warning is cancelled.
* At 9:30 am Wednesday the stage was 18.1 feet.
* Minor flooding is occurring and minor flooding is forecast.
* Flood stage is 14 feet.
* Forecast... the river will continue to fall to below flood stage by
this evening.
* Impact... at 18 feet... flooding of some commercial property in the
area begins.

... Lake Wind Advisory remains in effect until 3 PM CST this
afternoon...

A lake Wind Advisory remains in effect until 3 PM CST this
afternoon.

North to northeast winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts 25 to 30 mph will
be possible.

Precautionary/preparedness actions...

A lake Wind Advisory indicates that winds will cause rough chop
on area lakes. Small boats will be especially prone to capsizing.

11/10/2009 0900 PM

3 miles N of Trussville, Jefferson County.

Heavy rain m4.30 inch, reported by public.


            Storm total from cocorahs. 2.73 inches in the last 14
            hours.




11/10/2009 0900 PM

3 miles N of Trussville, Jefferson County.

Heavy rain m4.30 inch, reported by public.


            Storm total from cocorahs. 2.73 inches in the last 14
            hours.

... Ida brings wind and soaking rain to central Alabama...

What Hurricane Ida lacked in damaging winds, it made up for in
rainfall. Ida first reached hurricane intensity Saturday night in
the southern portion of the Gulf of Mexico with winds of 75 mph
which is a category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. By 6
PM on Sunday, November 8th, Ida reached category 2 status with 105
mph sustained winds. The hurricane held this status until 3 am
Monday, November 9th, when it finally encountered cooler waters and
stronger wind shear over the northern Gulf of Mexico. Ida slowly
continued to weaken through the day on Monday before finally making
its first landfall on Dauphin Island, Alabama, around 540 am
Tuesday, November 10th as a Tropical Storm. Ida then reemerged over
Mobile Bay and maintained its intensity until making its second
landfall on the Mainland Alabama coast near Weeks Bay around 730 am.
At both landfalls, Tropical Storm Ida had sustained winds of 45 to 50
mph.

For central Alabama, the effects of Ida were felt as early as Monday
afternoon in Pike, Barbour and Montgomery counties, as light rain
began falling around 2 PM. These rains continued to stretch
northward throughout the day on Monday and into the day on Tuesday.
The heavier rains were not seen until after dark Monday evening and
along with the heavier rains came the winds. Sustained winds around
central Alabama maxed out between 20 and 30 mph with maximum peak
wind gusts generally in the low to middle 30s however the Montgomery
Airport reported a gust of 40 mph and Tuscaloosa reported a peak
wind of 37 mph... but the big story with Ida will not be the winds
but rather, the record setting rain. The only wind related damaged
reports across central Alabama were from trees down in Shelby,
Elmore and Etowah counties where saturated soil likely played a
significant role.

As early as 7 am on Tuesday, there were numerous reports around
central Alabama of roads closed due to flooding and even one report
from Lowndes County of residents having to be evacuated from several
Mobile homes due to floodwater.

Rains pummeled central Alabama Monday through Tuesday and by the
time the rain had finally come to an end in Cherokee and Cleburne
counties after midnight on Wednesday, November 11th, everyone across
central Alabama had seen at least 3 inches of rain. Here are
several central Alabama reporting site storm totals from hurricane
ida:

Anniston
3.68 inches
*in addition a record rainfall of 3.51 inch(es) was set at Anniston
for the 10th of November breaking the old record of 1.98 set in 1966.

Auburn
3.93 inches

Birmingham
4.32 inches
*in addition a record rainfall of 4.01 inch(es) was set at
Birmingham for the 10th of November breaking the old record of 1.67
set in 1919.

Calera
4.55 inches

Montgomery
3.17 inches
*in addition a record rainfall of 2.33 inch(es) was set at
Montgomery for the 10th of November breaking the old record of 1.61
set in 1898.

Tuscaloosa
3.19 inches
*a record rainfall of 2.89 inch(es) was set at Tuscaloosa for the
10th of November breaking the old record of 1.65 set in 2002.

Central Alabama was spared in large part by the fact that we had
almost a full week of dry conditions prior to Ida making landfall.
With the rainfall being spread over a 36-hour period... it allowed
for proper runoff and alleviated any larger flooding problems we
could have experienced. Only minor river flooding was reported.