Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Elberta, AL

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Pensacola Forest Sherman NAS, FL, 15 miles east of Elberta at 28 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 89°F and low of 74°F; January is the coolest, at 61°F and 42°F. September is the wettest at 6.8 inches of precipitation on average and May the driest at 3.2 inches; the year adds up to 57.8 inches over 71 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 58% of the year's precipitation (33.3 of 57.8 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 76 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (29); a normal September there has highs of 86°F and 6.8 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 56 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 14 nights a year. That 57.8 inches is more than at 58 of the 107 Alabama stations used on this site (54%). Foley, 8 miles west, has its own station (Robertsdale, AL): 69.0 inches a year, 11.2 more than here, and a July average high of 90°F against 89°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Pensacola, FL, 21 miles east, averaged 88°F in August and 58°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from June to September. Sea level at the Pensacola tide gauge, 21 miles from Elberta, has risen 1.07 ± 0.05 inches per decade from 1923 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 10.7 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 60 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 96 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Elberta: 47 thunderstorm wind reports, 30 flash floods, 9 lightning strikes, 7 heavy rain events and 3 floods. They killed 4 people and injured 16, and the NWS estimated $150.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on March 3, 1999. July has had the most flash floods, 6 of 30. Of the 321 Alabama cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 248 have had fewer than Elberta.

Flood insurance policyholders in Elberta's ZIP code 36530 have filed 693 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $31.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Sally in 2020: 251 claims (36% of all) and $16.8 million, then Hurricane Ivan in 2004 with 194 and Hurricane Georges in 1998 with 84. 94% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 118 Alabama cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 110 have fewer than Elberta.