2009 Weather Summary

Most of our days in 2009 were quiet and calm but those are not the ones that stand out. People in McIntosh remember their early January tornado. With wind of almost 100mph a tornado struck near the Ciba plant and tore up several homes on January 3rd.

Late March was very active with 3 days of severe storms, tornadoes and flash flooding from Thomasville to Pascagoula to the Florida panhandle. More than a foot of rain fell in south Mobile County and washed out roads. One man drowned in Okaloosa County from flooding. We saw 3 more rounds of severe weather by the time we reached mid May.

It wasn’t just near the coast, it was inland too. On May 4, Repton was hit by straight line winds that quickly stopped the Quick Stop.

A large waterspout was captured on video in May. Passing near Mullet Point in Baldwin County, the photogenic spout stayed over the Bay.

Summer storms were not so widespread but June got hot. We were several degrees above average for the month and set a record of 101 both in Mobile and in Pensacola.

Our first tropical threat came in August as a brief TS Claudette. It formed off the coast of Tampa, Florida and weakened fast after landfall near Fort Walton Beach on August 17th. No more than 4” of rain fell.

We almost forgot about hurricane season until way into mid November when Ida made a beeline for Mobile Bay. Ida diminished from a category 2 hurricane in the southern Gulf to a weak Tropical Storm before landfall on Tuesday, Nov 10th. Rain was moderate but surf and waves had a big impact on Gulf State Park Pier and the rest of the beaches.

Three weeks later we witnessed a winter wonderland in some inland counties. An inch of snow stuck on the ground from southern MS through Washington and Clarke Counties.

From flakes to floods....

Mid December delivered a deluge. Record amounts of rain produced severe flooding, especially in Baldwin and Escambia Counties in Alabama. It’s no surprise that our rainfall totals for 2009 year are so high.

Alan Sealls, News 5