In Alabama, the very cold winter was followed by a warm and damp spring, then
a dry summer. On the coast. this drought was quite severe until finally broken about August 1. but low water continued in Mobile Bay. and shorebirds and other water birds there were way out on the flats and difficult to identify. Around Birmingham, the shortage of water seemed rather a matter of the local supply falling behind the demand for Lake Purdy water. While many were complaining of the shortage of water, the weather bureau was reporting the annual rainfall close to normal – apparently we cannot store water during period of excess. Then along came tropical storm Babe whose Labat Day deluge brought on wetter weather. September and- October, normally our two driest months, were wet enough, so that by the end of period on November 30. We had a ten-inch excess of annual rainfall. Temperatures were moderate so that, in spite of the very cold January, we averaged more than half a degree per day above normal temperature.
Author: Thomas A. Imhof
Volume Number: 25 Year Published: 1977
Issue Number: 3-4
Page Number: 3
Link to article: http://birdlife.aosbirds.org/1977/Vol 25 No. 3, 4_1977_p3-7.pdf
Link to the full issue of BirdLife: http://birdlife.aosbirds.org/1977/Vol 25 No. 3, 4_1977.pdf
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