Drought in Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Tuscaloosa County began May with the southern half of the county in Extreme (D3) drought conditions, while Severe (D2) conditions were ongoing across northern areas. D3 conditions were removed early in the month, while Severe (D2) conditions were removed by late month.

Worsening drought conditions continued into early May across Central Alabama. Following a severe weather event on May 6-7 in which 3 to 5 inches of rain fell across southern counties of Central Alabama, conditions began to slowly improve. A pattern change came by mid-May as ridging retreated off the East Coast and a persistent troughing setup over the Central U.S. served to return moist southerly flow to Alabama. With it, rainfall increased drastically across the region, and drought conditions improved by late month.