Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 5, NWS Mobile, AL

April 14, 1996Baldwin County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this flash flood warning at Apr 14, 1996, 9:10 PM CDT for Baldwin County, Alabama. It was in force for 4 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: Apr 14, 1996, 9:10 PM CDT (02:10 UTC)
Expired: Apr 15, 1996, 1:15 AM CDT
In force: 4 hr
Issued by: NWS Mobile, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Baldwin County, AL

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:12 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 192 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: 2003 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 554 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 218 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 297 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 3.5
Supercell composite: 14.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 150210
FFWMOB
ALC003-150615-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
910 PM CDT SUN APR 14 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  115 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
 
   ...BALDWIN COUNTY
 
AT 910 PM CDT...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR BALDWIN COUNTY. THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING HEAVY
RAINS IN EXCESS OF 3 INCHES PER HOUR HAVE RESULTED IN HEAVY FLOODING
ACROSS MANY ROADWAYS IN LOW LYING AREAS.
 
OTHER THUNDERSTORMS TO THE WEST OVER LA AND MS WILL PRODUCE HEAVY RAINS
AND FLOODING LATER TONIGHT.
 
STAYED TUNED TO LOCAL BRAODCAST STATIONS OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR ANY
FURTHER UPDATES.
 
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.

NWS Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Apr 14, 12:52 PM CDT, 8 hours 18 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 14, 12:52 PM CDT, 8 hours 18 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1250 PM CDT SUN APR 14 1996

PUTTING AFD OUT EARLY BEFORE SVR WX MOVES INTO W PART OF FA.  ALREADY
RUNNING RAGGED, CHASING ASOS.  LATEST SATELLITE AND WSR-88D PICTURES
SHOW THUNDERSTORMS FIRING OVER SOUTHEAST LA.  SOUTH PART OF FA IS
ALSO ON RR QUAD OF 200 MB JET MAX THAT IS EXITING THE AREA.  THESE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS PART OF FA INTO THE EVENING.
EXPECT A SQUALL LINE TO THEN MOVE THROUGH THE FA AFTER MIDNIGHT.
PCGRIDDS DATA SHOWS BEST PVA, MOISTURE AND DIVERGENCE ALOFT OVER FA
BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND 600 AM.  BEST DYNAMICS FOR SEVERE WEATHER STILL
APPEAR NORTH OF FA AROUND THE SURFACE LOW.  STRONG LOW LEVEL JET
(850) AND WAA WILL HELP FUEL TSTMS TONIGHT WITH MOB HAVING SOUTHERLY
WINDS OF AROUND 30K AND HSV 40K.  ALTHOUGH BEST SEVERE WEATHER
DYNAMICS NORTH OF FA, WE WILL STILL SEE ISOLATED SEVERE WX ACROSS FA
DURING THE OVERNIGHT. EXPECT BIGGEST THREAT BEING FROM STRAIGHTLINE
WINDS AND HAIL.  FRONT SHOULD MOVE THROUGH SOUTHEAST MS MONDAY MRNG
AND NORTHWEST FL BY MONDAY EVENING.  SHOULD SEE DECREASING CLOUDINESS
BY MONDAY AFTERNOON.  FWC NUMBERS LOOK OK.  THE 546 THICKNESS LINE
APPROACHES THE NORTH PART OF FA BY TUESDAY MORNING.  ALSO BOUNDARY
LAYER WINDS INCREASE TO 25K OUT OF THE NORTHWEST BY TUESDAY MORNING.
1) 65/75/46/70 8610  2) 66/76/49/70 7810
GB

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 14, 7:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Baldwin	65 min
Apr 14, 8:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Baldwin	61 min
Apr 14, 8:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Mobile	61 min
Apr 14, 8:39 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MOB	Mobile	4 hr
Apr 14, 10:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Baldwin	61 min
Apr 14, 11:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Baldwin	62 min
Apr 15, 12:00 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MOB	Russell	6 hr

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.