Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997
Flash Flood Warning 12, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at May 3, 1997, 1:57 AM CDT for 4 counties in 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
- May 3, 1997, 1:57 AM CDT (06:57 UTC)
- Expired
- May 3, 1997, 6:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 4 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Fayette County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Marion County, AL, Walker County, AL
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 118 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1924 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 894 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 55 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 170 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 279 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 3.0
- Supercell composite
- 11.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 030658 FFWBHM ALC009-043-057-075-093-127-133-031100- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 157 AM CDT SAT MAY 3 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 600 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES... IN NORTHERN ALABAMA ...BLOUNT ...CULLMAN ...MARION ...WINSTON IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA ...FAYETTE ...LAMAR IN CENTRAL ALABAMA ...WALKER DURING THE PAST SEVERAL HOURS STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAVE PRODUCED UP TO TWO TO FOUR INCHES OF RAIN OVER PARTS OF NORTH AND NORTHWEST ALABAMA. THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALMOST CONTINUOUSLY MOVING WEST TO EAST IN A 50 MILE WIDE BAND THAT EXTENDED OVER A PART OF NORTH ALABAMA. NUMEROUS REPORTS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED OF WATER COVERING ROADWAYS ESPECIALLY IN MARION AND CULLMAN COUNTIES. THERE WERE ALSO REPORTS OF SOME BRIDGES BEING WASHED OUT. IN CULLMAN COUNTY SOME EVACUATIONS FROM HOMES IN LOW LYING AREAS WERE BEING CONDUCTED. SOME CREEKS WERE OUT OF THEIR BANKS IN WALKER COUNTY AND THERE WAS FLOODING OF NUMEROUS STREETS. 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. IT IS VERY DIFFICULT AT NIGHT TO TELL HOW MUCH WATER IS ON ROADS. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE THROUGH WATER OF UNKNOWN DEPTH.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 7:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman | 50 min |
| May 2, 7:13 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cullman | 47 min |
| May 2, 7:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison, Morgan | 55 min |
| May 2, 7:29 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marshall | 61 min |
| May 2, 7:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jackson | 63 min |
| May 2, 8:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | DeKalb | 57 min |
| May 2, 8:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | DeKalb | 49 min |
| May 2, 8:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marshall | 60 min |
| May 2, 8:42 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cherokee | 33 min |
| May 2, 8:54 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lamar | 61 min |
| May 2, 9:22 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette | 78 min |
| May 2, 9:37 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marion | 48 min |
| May 2, 9:56 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Walker | 64 min |
| May 2, 10:20 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lamar | 65 min |
| May 2, 10:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Winston | 32 min |
| May 2, 10:28 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cullman | 62 min |
| May 2, 10:41 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | DeKalb, Jackson, Marshall | 4 hr |
| May 2, 10:47 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette | 63 min |
| May 2, 11:06 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Blount | 49 min |
| May 2, 11:10 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Walker | 50 min |
| May 2, 11:12 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Cullman, Marion, Walker, Winston | 3 hr |
| May 2, 11:12 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Fayette, Lamar | 3 hr |
| May 2, 11:32 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marshall | 43 min |
| May 2, 11:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar | 49 min |
| May 2, 11:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman | 49 min |
| May 2, 11:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Etowah | 64 min |
| May 3, 12:01 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | DeKalb, Jackson | 59 min |
| May 3, 12:01 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Walker | 34 min |
| May 3, 12:05 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette | 65 min |
| May 3, 12:15 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Etowah | 45 min |
| May 3, 12:22 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cherokee | 48 min |
| May 3, 12:24 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount | 66 min |
| May 3, 1:42 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman | 33 min |
| May 3, 1:45 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount | 50 min |
| May 3, 1:57 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Cullman, Winston | 4 hr |
| May 3, 1:57 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Blount | 4 hr |
| May 3, 2:32 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | DeKalb, Jackson, Marshall | 3 hr |
| May 3, 3:27 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 48 min |
| May 3, 3:54 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Greene | 36 min |
| May 3, 3:59 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Hale | 31 min |
| May 3, 5:06 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Talladega | 49 min |
| May 3, 5:37 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Autauga, Chilton | 63 min |
| May 3, 6:11 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Coosa | 49 min |
| May 3, 6:33 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Elmore, Montgomery | 47 min |
| May 3, 6:33 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tallapoosa | 47 min |
| May 3, 7:40 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lee | 35 min |
| May 3, 7:58 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Russell | 47 min |
| May 3, 8:04 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Macon | 31 min |
| May 3, 8:25 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lee | 30 min |
| May 3, 8:39 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Russell | 46 min |
Nearby
Flash Flood Warnings in Alabama, 1997Every flash flood warning in 1997
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.