Alert archive / Florida / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 5, NWS Tallahassee, FL

March 16, 1990Escambia County, Santa Rosa County, Florida

NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this flash flood warning at Mar 16, 1990, 3:55 PM CST for Escambia County, Santa Rosa County, Florida. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 16, 1990, 3:55 PM CST (21:55 UTC)
Expired
Mar 16, 1990, 9:00 PM CST
In force
5 hr
Issued by
NWS Tallahassee, FL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Escambia County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL

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

Apalachicola Mun, FL (KAQQ), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 233 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, Apalachicola Mun, FL at 12:00Z on 1990-03-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 17 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, Apalachicola Mun, FL at 12:00Z on 1990-03-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 238 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
17 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-169 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1083 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
238 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
323 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KPNS 170003 COR
FFWPNS
FLC033-113-170300-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
600 PM CST FRI MAR 16 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PENSACOLA HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 900 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN NORTHWEST FLORIDA

   ...ALL OF SANTA ROSA COUNTY...ALL OF ESCAMBIA COUNTY...THE NORTH
1/2 OF OKALOOSA COUNTY.

HEAVY RAIN CONTINUES OVER SANTA ROSA AND OKALOOSA COUNTIES FLORIDA.
THE RAIN HAS DECREASED OVER ESCAMBIA COUNTY...BUT FLOODING WILL CONTINUE
TO BE A PROBLEM FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS.

IN ESCAMBIA COUNTY...NUMEROUS ROADS ARE WASHED OUT AND IMPASSABLE FROM
NINE MILE ROAD NORTH TO THE ALABAMA LINE. ESCAMBIA COUNTY CIVIL
DEFENSE REQUEST THAT THE GENERAL PUBLIC RESTRICT TRAVEL IN THE
AFFECTED AREAS UNTIL FLOOD WATERS SUBSIDE.

IN SANTA ROSA COUNTY...ALL ROADS ARE CLOSED FROM MILTON NORTHWARD TO
THE ALABAMA LINE. SOME FLOODING IS ALSO OCCURRING IN THE SOUTHERN
SECTIONS. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL OF 1 TO 2 INCHES THE NEXT 3 HOURS.

IN OKALOOSA COUNTY...SOME FLOODING OF SECONDARY ROADS AND RISING WATERS
IN CREEKS AND ROAD DITCHES IS OCURRRING AT THIS TIME. SOME DIRT ROADS
IN THE NORTHWEST PARTS OF THE COUNTY HAVE BEEN CLOSED.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY.  'NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL ONE.

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, Mar 16, 2:57 PM CST, 58 minutes before
FLZ003-005-GAZ011-012-162300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
356 PM EST (256 PM CST) FRI MAR 16 1990

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EST THIS FRIDAY
AFTERNOON FOR MUCH OF NORTHWEST AND NORTH FLORIDA AND FOR SOUTHWEST
AND SOUTH CENTRAL GEORGIA. AT THIS TIME NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
RADARS INDICATED ONLY ISOLATED SHOWERS FROM DOTHAN AL TO CRESTVIEW FL.
THIS WILL BE THE LAST SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT UNTIL RADAR OR SURFACE
REPORTS INDICATE ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tallahassee, FL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 16, 8:01 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEEscambia, Santa Rosa59 min
Mar 16, 9:51 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningTAEEscambia, Santa Rosa2 hr
Mar 16, 10:37 AM CSTTornado WarningTAEEscambia, Santa Rosa38 min
Mar 16, 12:04 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningTAEEscambia, Santa Rosa116 min
Mar 16, 1:55 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningTAEEscambia, Santa Rosa2 hr
Mar 16, 2:29 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEEscambia, Santa Rosa61 min
Mar 16, 3:55 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningTAEOkaloosa5 hr
Mar 16, 4:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEEscambia, Santa Rosa28 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Florida, 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.