Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 56, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 16, 1990DeKalb County, Marshall County, Morgan County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at Mar 16, 1990, 3:04 PM CST for DeKalb County, Marshall County, Morgan County, Alabama. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 16, 1990, 3:04 PM CST (21:04 UTC)
Expired
Mar 16, 1990, 5:40 PM CST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties DeKalb County, AL, Marshall County, AL, Morgan County, AL

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Centreville/Bibb, AL (KCKL), launched 12:00Z, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 188 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Centreville/Bibb, AL at 12:00Z on 1990-03-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Centreville/Bibb, AL at 12:00Z on 1990-03-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 110 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
599 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
83 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
110 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 162105
FFWHSV
ALC049-095-103-170300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
304 PM CST FRI MAR 16 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  900 PM CST
IN NORTH ALABAMA...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...DEKALB COUNTY...MARSHALL COUNTY...MORGAN COUNTY
 
A 300 PM A LARGE AREA OF HEAVY RAIN IS LOCATED OVER ALL OF MARSHALL
COUNTY...THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF MORGAN COUNTY AND THE SOUTHERN THIRD
OF DEKALB COUNTY. THIS RAIN AREA WAS MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST AT ABOUT
20 MPH.
 
SOME ROADS IN MARSHALL AND MORGAN COUNTY ARE ALREADY FLOODED AND WITH
ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINS EXPECTED...ADDITIONAL FLOODING IS LIKELY IN THE
WARNED COUNTIES.
 
IN MOST AREAS OVER 3 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN SINCE NOON THURSDAY.
WITH THE SOIL SATURATED...THE ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WILL CAUSE STREAMS
AND CREEKS TO RISE RAPIDLY.
 
 
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.  IF FLASH FLOODING IS
OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY.  MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS.  DO
NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 16, 3:19 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXTalladega4 hr
Mar 16, 3:19 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXChilton4 hr
Mar 16, 6:28 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXCalhoun3 hr
Mar 16, 7:06 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXTalladega3 hr
Mar 16, 9:04 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXCleburne116 min
Mar 16, 11:02 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXCleburne118 min
Mar 16, 1:10 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXGreene, Hale, Marengo, Tuscaloosa105 min
Mar 16, 1:10 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXPickens105 min
Mar 16, 1:21 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXCalhoun, Cherokee, Etowah, St. Clair5 hr
Mar 16, 1:21 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXClay, Cleburne, Randolph5 hr
Mar 16, 1:21 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXTalladega5 hr
Mar 16, 1:24 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXBibb, Jefferson, Shelby116 min
Mar 16, 1:24 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXPerry116 min
Mar 16, 1:24 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXBlount, Cullman116 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Alabama, 1990Every flash flood warning in 1990

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.