Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 1991

Flash Flood Warning 9, NWS Mobile, AL

May 26, 1991Mobile County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this flash flood warning at May 26, 1991, 4:04 AM CDT for Mobile County, Alabama. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 26, 1991, 4:04 AM CDT (09:04 UTC)
Expired
May 26, 1991, 7:00 AM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Mobile County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 00:00Z, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 152 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 00:00Z on 1991-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 336 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 00:00Z on 1991-05-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 28 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
336 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
646 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
44 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 260905
FFWMOB
ALC097-261200-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
404 AM CDT SUN MAY 26 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
 
   ...MOBILE COUNTY
 
VERY HEAVY RAINFALL HAS OCCURRED AND IS CONTINUING OVER MOBILE COUNTY
ASSOCIATED WITH A STRONG NORTHWARD-MOVING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM NOW
CENTERED 10 MILES WEST OF THE MOBILE AIRPORT. THIS RAINFALL IS
OCCURRING OVER ALREADY SATURATED GROUND.
 
THE VOLUME OF RAINFALL NOW OCCURRING WILL PRODUCE FLASH FLOODING.  IF
YOU LIVE IN A FLOOD PRONE AREA AND THE WATER IS RISING...MOVE TO
HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY.
 
MOTORISTS SHOULD EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION.  DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS AN
AREA OF RAPIDLY FLOWING WATER.
 
RAINFALL AT THE MOBILE AIRPORT HAS TOTALLED MORE THAN ONE AND ONE-HALF
INCHES DURING THE PAST HOUR.
 
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.

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 26, 3:29 AM CDT, 35 minutes before
ALZ013-015-016-MSZ014-013-261030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
325 AM CDT SUN MAY 26 1991

...STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN FOR SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...

A SMALL BUT TIGHTLY WOUND LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM DEVELOPED OVER THE
NORTHERN GULF SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT AND IS NOW MOVING ONSHORE ALONG
THE ALABAMA-MISSISSIPPI STATE LINE WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AND
STRONG WINDS.  THE MOBILE RADAR INDICATED THE CENTER WAS LOCATED 20
MILES SOUTHWEST OF MOBILE AT 315 PM.

WORKERS ALONG THE MOBILE RIVER HAVE ESTIMATED WINDS OF 50 TO 60 MPH
FROM THE SOUTHEAST DURING THE PAST FEW MINUTES.  AT 200 AM DAUPHIN
ISLAND REPORTED SOUTHEAST WINDS 41 WITH GUSTS TO 47 MPH. A GUST TO 43
MPH OCCURRED AT THE MOBILE AIRPORT JUST A FEW MINUTES AGO.

AS THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES INLAND DURING THE NEXT HOUR AT ABOUT
15 MPH...THE VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AND WINDS OF 50 TO 60 MPH ARE
EXPECTED TO CONTINUE.  CONDITIONS SHOULD IMPROVE AS THE LOW GETS AWAY
FROM MOBILE...BUT HEAVY RAINFALL IS LIKELY OVER THE INLAND COUNTIES OF
SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 26, 5:28 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningMOBWashington3 hr

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.