The impact of combustion heat release and bulk compressive strain on local alignment between the flame front normal and strain rate eigenvectors (principal strain rates) are investigated using simultaneous laser-induced fluorescence imaging of OH and tomographic particle image velocimetry in turbulent premixed CH4/O-2/N-2 counterflow flames with Karlovitz numbers (Ka) of 1.3 and 2.7. The bulk strain rate imposed by the counterflow introduces a preferential alignment of the most compressive principal strain rate, s(3), with the flame normal, n. Dilatation induced by heat release acts as a competing mechanism that promotes the alignment of the most extensive principal strain rate, s(1), with n. In the counterflow flames, the preferential s(3)-n alignment prevails and remains dominant across the entire flame. This alignment stands in stark contrast to observations from previous studies in turbulent Bunsen flames or flames in isotropic turbulence, indicating the significance of bulk strain rate in determining local strain-flame alignment. The effects of increasing turbulence intensity on strain rate-flame front alignment are twofold; on the one hand, turbulence diminishes the s(3)-n preferential alignment that is associated with the bulk strain field by increasing flame surface wrinkling and reducing the tendency of the flame front normal and s(3)-eigenvectors to align with the axis of the counterflow. On the other hand, turbulence reduces the impact of heat release and enhances preferential s(3)-n alignment approximately 1 mm ahead of the flame front, reflecting the characteristic alignment of compressive strain and scalar gradients in turbulent non reacting flows. The effects of bulk strain are also observed in strain rate alignment statistics based on the fluctuating velocity fields, although the impact is less pronounced than for the statistics based on the full velocity fields. As a result of this complex interplay between heat release, turbulence, and bulk strain rate, the flame-tangential strain rate is on average extensive, and the flame-normal strain rate is dominantly compressive except for an approximately 0.8 mm wide region near the flame front where it is extensive due to dilatation. The compressive bulk strain in the counterflow was also shown to compress the length scales over which the strain rate and its alignment are affected by flame heat release. The present finding is important for developing turbulent flame models to accommodate the effect of bulk strain rate that is inherently associated with practical burner geometries, and the length scale dependence of the bulk strain effect could be a consideration for determining the cutoff scale in the context of large-eddy simulations. (C) 2018 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.