Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 1991

Flash Flood Warning 7, NWS Mobile, AL

May 10, 1991Baldwin County, Mobile County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this flash flood warning at May 10, 1991, 4:45 PM CDT for Baldwin County, Mobile County, Alabama. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 10, 1991, 4:45 PM CDT (21:45 UTC)
Expired
May 10, 1991, 7:45 PM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Baldwin County, AL, Mobile County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 143 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, Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL at 12:00Z on 1991-05-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1564 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL at 12:00Z on 1991-05-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 105 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
1564 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
470 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
105 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
203 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 KMOB 102146
FFWMOB
ALC003-097-110045-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
445 PM CDT FRI MAY 10 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
 
   ...BALDWIN COUNTY...MOBILE COUNTY
 
AT 440 PM HEAVY RAIN CONTINUES TO MOVE FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS MOBILE
AND BALDWIN COUNTIES. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE PICKED UP
ABOUT AN INCH OF RAIN IN 35 MINUTES WITH ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN JUST
TO THE WEST.
 
THIS SYSTEM IS PART OF THE SAME SYSTEM THAT DUMPED OVER 4 INCHES OF
RAIN IN GEORGE COUNTY EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON. THE RAIN OF THE LAST
SEVERAL DAYS HAS BROUGHT THE AREA DRAINAGE DITCHES TO NEAR SATURATION.
ADDITIONAL RAIN WILL ONLY COMPOUND THE PROBLEM
 
MOST DEATHS IN FLASH FLOODING 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...ON FOOT.

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 10, 2:30 PM CDT, 2 hours 15 minutes before
ALZ013-016-015-MSZ013-014-102130-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
230 PM CDT FRI MAY 10 1991

...ONCE AGAIN HEAVY RAINFALL COVERING PARTS OF SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...

AT 225 PM CDT MOBILE RADAR SHOWED A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS WITH SCATTERED
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER EXTREME SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHWEST
ALABAMA.  THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE FROM SOUTHEAST OF WIGGINS MISSISSIPPI
TO SOUTHEAST OF CITRONELLE ALABAMA.  THE STORMS WERE TRACKING EAST AT
20 MPH.

RESIDENTS IN OR NEAR THE STRONGER STORMS CAN EXPECT HEAVY RAINFALL...
CAUSING STREET AND FLOOD PRONE AREAS TO FLOOD BRIEFLY AS THESE STORMS
MOVE SLOWLY EAST ACROSS THE AREA FOR THE NE	XT COUPLE HOURS.
Special weather statement, May 10, 4:15 PM CDT, 30 minutes before
ALZ013-016-015-MSZ013-014-102330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
415 PM CDT FRI MAY 10 1991

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR GEORGE COUNTY OF SOUTHWEST
MISSISSIPPI UNTIL 6 PM...

AT 410 PM CDT MOBILE RADAR SHOWED A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS WITH SCATTERED
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER EXTREME SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHWEST
ALABAMA.  THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE MOVING INTO THE WESTERN PART OF
MOBILE.  THE STORMS WERE TRACKING EAST AT 20 MPH.

MOTORISTS AND RESIDENTS IN OR NEAR THE STRONGER STORMS CAN EXPECT HEAVY
RAINFALL... CAUSING STREET AND FLOOD PRONE AREAS TO FLOOD BRIEFLY AS
THE STORMS MOVE TO THE EAST SLOWLY FOR THE NEXT COUPLE HOURS.
Special weather statement, May 10, 4:33 PM CDT, 12 minutes before
FLZ001-002-003-004-ALZ010-013-014-015-016-017-018-MSZ012-013-014-
102230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
430 PM CDT FRI MAY 10 1991

AT 430 PM CDT...NUMEROUS STRONG THUNDERSTORMS SPREAD FROM ALONG THE
APALACHICOLA RIVER NORTHWEST TO DOTHAN THEN WEST ACROSS SOUTH ALABAMA
THROUGH MOBILE INTO SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI. THE HEAVIER RAIN WAS NEAR
MOBILE AND SOUTH OF DOTHAN.

AS THE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP SOUTHEAST INTO THE WEST FLORIDA PANHANDLE
BE PREPARED FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WHICH MAY CAUSE SOME BRIEF FLOODING
OF STREETS...DITCHES AND LOW-LYING AREAS DURING AND SHORTLY AFTER THE
THUNDERSTORMS END. ALSO...THERE WILL BE FREQUENT LIGHTNING...STRONG
WINDS AND THE POSSIBILITY OF HAIL.

THE INDIVIDUAL THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 10, 3:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBButler, Lowndes69 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Alabama, 1991Every flash flood warning in 1991

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.