Flood — Madison, Alabama

2015-12-25 to 2015-12-27 · near Elon, Madison, Alabama

Event narrative

From WHNT News Article: Madison County Coroner has identified a man who drowned Sunday afternoon in the New Hope area. Coroner Bobby Berryhill said Gary Sloman, 53, of New Hope, died around 2 p.m. Berryhill said Sloman had left his truck near the flooding to go check on a friend and got caught in the rushing water. Investigator Jeremy Hughes with the Madison County Sheriff's Office said Sunday they received a call about a body found in flood waters. Deputies responded to CC Ivey Road around 4 p.m. Berryhill said the death was accidental, there were no signs of foul play.

Wider weather episode

Numerous systems affecting the Tennessee valley earlier in the month set the stage widespread flash flooding and areal flooding across much of the region during the final week of 2015. Numerous roads across several counties we closed as very heavy, persistent rainfall prompted many rivers, streams, and low lying areas to flood. One fatality was reported during this end of the year flood event.

A stalled frontal boundary draped SW to NE laid across the area from the 21st through the 23rd, with several rounds of showers and storms that occurred during this time. It was this rainfall event that likely pushed the HSA 'over the edge' for the Christmas Day/Dec. 26th flooding that would come just a few days later. SPORT LIS data showed that soil moisture across much of the Central and South/Eastern portions of the HSA was in excess of 60-70%, and when this occurs with 'normal' rainfall events, a good 2' rainfall event will cause many tributaries that feed into the Tennessee River to flood. During this 3-day period, KMSL observed 1.03', and KHSV measured 1.46' on top of already saturated soils across much of the Tennessee Valley, translating much of this rainfall immediately to runoff. Another stalled front, oriented SW to NE, was draped across the area by the time Christmas Day arrived. A few disturbances moved northeastward along the front, bringing several rounds of showers and a few storms to the HSA yet again. In fact, rainfall started in many locations late Christmas Eve night, and continued into Christmas Day. The rainfall continued all day and into the day after Christmas, with many locations receiving the heavier rainfall on the 26th. Most locations (except NW AL) received at least 3', with several locations measuring between 6 and 10 inches FOR THE DAY.

Significant river flooding occurred as well.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.4899, -86.4964)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 610072. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.