Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 60, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 27, 1990Fayette County, Lamar County, Marion County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at May 27, 1990, 11:17 AM CDT for Fayette County, Lamar County, Marion County, Alabama. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 27, 1990, 11:17 AM CDT (16:17 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 1990, 2:15 PM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Fayette County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Marion 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, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 127 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 1990-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 312 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1990-05-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 45 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
312 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-98 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1242 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
45 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
25 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 271619
FFWBHM
ALC057-075-093-271915-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1117 AM CDT SUN MAY 27 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  215 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...FAYETTE COUNTY...LAMAR COUNTY...MARION COUNTY
 
HEAVY RAINS HAVE OCCURRED THIS MORNING ACROSS THE THREE COUNTY AREA OF
FAYETTE...LAMAR...AND MARION. FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED ON U.S. 278
WEST OF SULLIGENT IN LAMAR COUNTY. NATIONAL WEATHER WEATHER SERVICE
RADAR INDICATES THAT ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINS WILL BE MOVING THROUGH
THESE THREE COUNTIES DURING THE NEXT TWO HOURS OR SO.
 
MOTORISTS SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS SINCE ROADWAYS ARE SOME OF THE
FIRST LOCATIONS TO FLOOD.
 
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.l  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 27, 5:57 AM CDT, 5 hours 20 minutes before
ALZ004>009-011-271400-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
556 AM CDT SUN MAY 27 1990

...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS NORTHERN ALABAMA...

AT 545 AM PEA SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED IN WINFIELD IN MARION COUNTY.
ALSO...RADAR INDICATED A STORM JUST SOUTHWEST OF CULLMAN IN CULLMAN
COUNTY THAT MAY CONTAIN SOME SMALL HAIL.  THESE THUNDERSHOWERS WERE
IN AN AREA FROM COLUMBUS MISSISSIPPI TO HUNTSVILLE ALABAMA.

THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AROUND 30 MPH.  PERSONS IN NORTHERN
ALABAMA...EXPECIALLY IN FAYETTE...WALKER...WINSTON...CULLMAN AND BLOUNT
COUNTIES...CAN EXPECT STORMS WITH SMALL HAIL...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...
GUSTY WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING DURING THE NEXT HOUR OR TWO.
Special weather statement, May 27, 8:10 AM CDT, 3 hours 7 minutes before
ALZ004>009-011-271600-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
807 AM CDT SUN MAY 27 1990

...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS NORTHERN ALABAMA...

AT 805 AM CENTREVILLE RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN
NORTHERN ALABAMA EXTENDING INTO EAST CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI.
THE STRONGEST STORMS IN ALABAMA WERE LOCATED ALONG THE WALKER/WINSTON
COUNTY BORDER...NEAR LEWIS SMITH LAKE. ANOTHER STRONG STORM WAS
LOCATED IN EASTERN MISSISSIPPI...JUST WEST OF COLUMBUS. THIS STORM
WILL EFFECT LAMAR COUNTY WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR.

THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AROUND 30 MPH.  PERSONS IN NORTHERN
ALABAMA...EXPECIALLY IN LAMAR...FAYETTE...WALKER...WINSTON...AND
CULLMAN COUNTIES...CAN EXP]ECT STORMS WITH SMALL HAIL...BRIEF HEAVY
RAIN...GUSTY WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.
Special weather statement, May 27, 9:16 AM CDT, 2 hours 1 minute before
ALZ004>009-011-271600-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
915 AM CDT SUN MAY 27 1990

...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS NORTHERN ALABAMA...

AT 910 AM CENTREVILLE RADAR CONTINUED TO SHOW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
IN PORTIONS OF NORTHERN AND WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA...STRETCHING BACK INTO
EASTERN MISSISSIPPI. THE STRONGEST STORMS IN ALABAMA STRETCHED FROM
NEAR CARBON HILL IN WESTERN WALKER COUNTY THROUGH NORTHERN FAYETTE
AND LAMAR COUNTIES INTO EASTERN MISSISSIPPI. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE
NORTHEAST AT AROUND 30 MILES AN HOUR.

PERSONS IN LAMAR...FAYETTE...WALKER...MARION..AND WINSTON COUNTIES
NEED TO BE ALERT TO CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND STAY TUNED TO NOAA
WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

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.