Five National Weather Service radar sites along the upper Gulf Coast were down and not transmitting data Sunday morning, just as a localized flash-flood threat and heavy rain moved through coastal Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. The outage left stretches of south Alabama and the panhandle without public radar coverage at the same moment forecasters were tracking rainfall rates of 2 to 3 inches or more per hour.
The five affected sites are KMOB near Mobile, KEVX at Eglin Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle, KEOX near Fort Rucker in southern Alabama, KTLH near Tallahassee, and KVAX at Moody Air Force Base in south Georgia, according to Saluda Standard Sentinel. As reported by al.com, the radar issue was confined to south Alabama, and the outage did not affect radars in central and north Alabama. NWS Mobile reported Saturday that the MOB and KEVX radars would remain offline until further notice, per the same report.
Mobile radar data was not being disseminated to the public, al.com notes. NOAA weather radios remained operational, and a separate radar site in Louisiana returned to service Sunday, according to the same account.
Flash Flood Warnings Already in Effect
A flash flood warning was issued by the National Weather Service in Mobile at 3:32 a.m. Sunday for Santa Rosa County, according to Yahoo News. A flood watch remained in effect for coastal communities in northwest Florida and coastal Alabama, the outlet reported, and a localized flash-flood threat was expected to continue through 9 a.m. Central time across the same stretch of coast, per the Saluda Standard Sentinel report…