Tropical Depression — Upper Mobile, Alabama

2008-08-23 to 2008-08-24 · Upper Mobile, Alabama

Event narrative

Fay weakened to a depression as it moved into Baldwin county during the evening of August 23. The center of Fay moved into southeast Mississippi during the early morning of August 24. Coastal Alabama was put under a Tropical Storm watch at 900 AM CST on August 22. The watch was upgraded to a Tropical Storm Warning at 900 PM CST on August 22. All tropical watches and warnings were dropped at 900 PM CST on August 23. Storm total rainfall across southwest Alabama was generally between 5 and 10 inches. The highest amounts were in Crenshaw county where 12.16 inches fell in Highland Home. Across Mobile and Baldwin counties 5-6 inches of rain fell. This brought street flooding to several areas. Sustained winds remained near tropical depression storm strength with the highest winds being recorded after Fay had moved well west of the area on August 25. The lowest sea level pressure was 1002 mb at Mobile Regional Airport. Coastal storm tides of 2-3 feet above astronomical tide levels were observed, with moderate beach erosion reported. The west end of Dauphin island was flooded. The Causeway across Mobile Bay was closed due to high water. Along the Dog River and Bayou Sara, higher than normal tides and excessive runoff from rains caused water to rise to near the foundations of several homes. No injuries or deaths occurred. All the associated effects of Fay resulted in $700K in property damage.

Wider weather episode

Fay weakened to a tropical depression as it moved across the north parts of coastal Alabama bringing heavy rains and above normal tides.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 132719. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.