Alabama coast
Guides
Short explainers for the parts of the board that decide whether you go, for every Alabama county board, Mobile County and Baldwin County. Each one links to the agency that owns the facts, and none of them go out of date on a schedule. The live readings are on the board.
- Tsunami: what to do on the Gulf
What is actually known about tsunamis on this coast, the sea’s own warning signs, what each alert level means, your county’s alerts, and why storm surge is the water that usually does harm here. - Small craft advisories, Mobile Bay and the Gulf
Which bay, Sound or Gulf zone your town reads, how a bay forecast differs from a Gulf one, and what an advisory, gale or special marine warning means in knots. - Reading a tide table on Mobile Bay and the Gulf
What the zero is measured from, why the tide here is small and usually once a day, which stations are live gauges, the one table worked out from another station, and why the wind and the rivers can move the water more than the tide. - Road closures on this coast
ALDOT’s ALGO Traffic events on I-10, US 98 and the beach roads, what counts as a closure, and why a car on the shoulder is left off. - Fire: what is burning, and burn bans
ADEM’s May-to-October burning ban in Mobile and Baldwin, the Forestry Commission’s advisories, alerts and No Burn orders, and why the tile says Check when AFC’s own posts leave it unsettled. - Fishing: what is open, and the limits
ADCNR’s daily limits, the state’s red snapper season, the reef fish that open and close with federal waters, and why a fish says Check. - Oysters: the season, the grids and the closures
The closed season in law, Marine Resources’ season and harvest grids, the Health Department’s closures after rain, and why the tile says Open only when all three allow it. - Beach water: who samples, and what the colors mean
The samples ADEM and the Department of Public Health take at 25 sites on the Gulf, the bays and the rivers, what Normal, Elevated and Condition Red mean, and why a sample can be weeks old.