Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 16, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 7, 1996Bibb County, Shelby County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at Mar 7, 1996, 1:58 AM CST for Bibb County, Shelby County, Alabama. It was in force for 3 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Mar 7, 1996, 1:58 AM CST (07:58 UTC)
Expired: Mar 7, 1996, 5:00 AM CST
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Bibb County, AL, Shelby County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 12 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 559 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1401 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 60 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 55 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 73 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 2.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 070801
FFWBHM
ALC007-117-071100-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
158 AM CST THU MAR 7 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...BIBB COUNTY...SHELBY COUNTY
 
AT 158 AM CST...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN
PERSISTING ACROSS BIBB AND SHELBY COUNTIES.  RAIN SHOULD CONTINUE OVER
THE AREA AT LEAST THROUGH 330 AM...PROVIDING AN ADDITIONAL ONE QUARTER
TO ONE HALF INCH OF RAINFALL...ON TOP OF THE SEVERAL INCHES THAT HAVE
ALREADY OCCURRED OVER PARTS OF BOTH COUNTIES.
 
NUMEROUS CITY...COUNTY AND STATE ROADS REMAIN COVERED WITH WATER IN
SHELBY COUNTY AND NORTHERN BIBB COUNTY AT THE PRESENT TIME...AND WITH THADDITIONAL RAINFALL...IT IS EXPECTED THAT FLOODING PROBLEMS WILL PERSIST
AT LEAST THROUGH 500 AM.  THOSE PERSONS PLANNING ANY TRAVEL IN SHELBY
AND BIBB COUNTIES OVERNIGHT SHOULD BE PREPARED TO ENCOUNTER WATER ON
ROADS...AND SHOULD REMAIN EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS.
 
 
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.  IF FnLASH 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

Local storm report, Mar 7, 1:20 AM CST, 38 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
120 AM CST THU MAR 07 1996

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

343 PM     ST. CLAIR                AL    GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL.
03/06/96   ST. CLAIR

830 PM     TUSCALOOSA               AL    NUMEROUS TREES DOWN
03/06/96   TUSACALOOSA                    WESTERN SECTIONS.

830 PM     PICKENS                  AL    NUMEROUS TREES DOWM.
03/06/96   PICKENS

800-830 PM KENNEYHILL               AL    GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL.
03/06/96   PICKENS                        TREES DOWN.

919 PM     SELLERS                  AL    QUARTER SIZE HAIL.
03/06/96   MONTGOMERY

1005 PM    MONTGOMERY               AL    TREES BLOWN DOWN.
03/06/96   MONTGOMERY                     STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO
                                          BUILDINGS.

1015 PM    MONTGOMERY              AL     GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL.
           MONTGOMERY

1115 PM    TUSKEGEE                 AL    NUMEROUS TREES DOWN.
03/06/96   MACON                          WINDOWS BLOWN OUT.

1155 PM    SMITH STATION            AL    MOBILE HOME DESTROYED.
03/06/96   LEE

Local storm report, Mar 7, 1:31 AM CST, 27 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
120 AM CST THU MAR 07 1996

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

343 PM     ST. CLAIR                AL    GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL.
03/06/96   ST. CLAIR

830 PM     TUSCALOOSA               AL    NUMEROUS TREES DOWN
03/06/96   TUSACALOOSA                    WESTERN SECTIONS.

830 PM     PICKENS                  AL    NUMEROUS TREES DOWM.
03/06/96   PICKENS

800-830 PM KENNEYHILL               AL    GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL.
03/06/96   PICKENS                        TREES DOWN.

919 PM     SELLERS                  AL    QUARTER SIZE HAIL.
03/06/96   MONTGOMERY

1005 PM    MONTGOMERY               AL    TREES BLOWN DOWN.
03/06/96   MONTGOMERY                     STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO
                                          BUILDINGS.

1015 PM    MONTGOMERY              AL     GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL.
           MONTGOMERY

1115 PM    TUSKEGEE                 AL    NUMEROUS TREES DOWN.
03/06/96   MACON                          WINDOWS BLOWN OUT.

1155 PM    SMITH STATION            AL    MOBILE HOME DESTROYED.
03/06/96   LEE

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 6, 6:10 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marengo	65 min
Mar 6, 7:12 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Sumter	63 min
Mar 6, 7:24 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Franklin	66 min
Mar 6, 7:35 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Greene	40 min
Mar 6, 7:54 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Pickens	51 min
Mar 6, 7:58 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marion	62 min
Mar 6, 8:03 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Franklin	57 min
Mar 6, 8:11 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lawrence	64 min
Mar 6, 8:16 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Sumter	44 min
Mar 6, 8:21 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	54 min
Mar 6, 8:30 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Madison	60 min
Mar 6, 8:37 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lauderdale, Limestone	68 min
Mar 6, 8:47 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Winston	43 min
Mar 6, 9:14 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	46 min
Mar 6, 9:15 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Lauderdale, Limestone	45 min
Mar 6, 9:15 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lauderdale, Limestone	45 min
Mar 6, 9:16 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Limestone	3 hr
Mar 6, 9:19 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Lauderdale, Limestone	41 min
Mar 6, 9:19 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lauderdale, Limestone	41 min
Mar 6, 9:21 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Montgomery	39 min
Mar 6, 9:38 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lowndes	37 min
Mar 6, 10:01 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Montgomery	44 min
Mar 6, 10:36 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Lowndes, Montgomery	3 hr
Mar 6, 10:39 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Macon	66 min
Mar 6, 11:16 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lee	44 min
Mar 6, 11:46 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Bibb, Shelby	2 hr
Mar 7, 2:53 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Talladega	3 hr
Mar 7, 5:01 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Shelby	3 hr
Mar 7, 7:02 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Talladega	118 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Alabama, 1996 Every flash flood warning in 1996

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.