Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 17, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 31, 1997DeKalb County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at May 31, 1997, 4:03 PM CDT for DeKalb 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
May 31, 1997, 4:03 PM CDT (21:03 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1997, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County DeKalb County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 168 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1997-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 210 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1997-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 112 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
210 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
582 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
112 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
124 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 312102
FFWHSV
ALC049-010000-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
403 PM CDT SAT MAY 31 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...DEKALB COUNTY
 
AT 353PM CDT HEAVY RAIN WAS CONTINUING TO FALL OVER MOST OF DE KALB
COUNTY IN NORTHEAST ALABAMA. MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED TO
CONTINUE OVER THIS AREA FOR A FEW MORE HOURS AND FLOODING IN ALL LOW
LYING AREAS ARE LIKELY...AS WELL AS ALONG DRAINAGE AREAS AND WATERWAYS.
 
DE KALB COUNTY EMA DIRECTOR REPORTED 2 INCHES OF WATER INSIDE THE
FOODLAND GROCERY STORE IN COLLINSVILLE AND WATER BEGINNING TO COME OVER
STATE HIGHWAY 35 IN FORT PAYNE.
 
THIS AREA OF RAIN WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 25 MILES PER HOUR.
 
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS 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.  TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.
 
 
 
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 10:38 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXLamar, Marion112 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.