Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 25, NWS Birmingham, AL

June 30, 1997Pickens County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at Jun 30, 1997, 6:40 PM CDT for Pickens County, Alabama. It was in force for 2 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
Jun 30, 1997, 6:40 PM CDT (23:40 UTC)
Expired
Jun 30, 1997, 8:40 PM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Pickens County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 122 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 1997-06-30Temperature 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 1997-06-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 68 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
210 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
510 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
68 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
65 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 KBHM 302341
FFWBHM
ALC107-010140-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
640 PM CDT MON JUN 30 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 840 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...PICKENS COUNTY
 
AT 635 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A NEARLY STATIONARY EAST-WEST BAND OF
THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN...EXTENDING FROM WEST CENTRAL PICKENS
COUNY EASTWARD INTO WEST CENTRAL TUSCALOOSA COUNTY.  RADAR HAS
ESTIMATED THAT AS MUCH AS 2.8 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN OVER EAST
CENTRAL PICKENS COUNTY SINCE MID AFTERNOON.

AT 630 PM CDT...THE PICKENS COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT REPORTED THAT
WATER WAS ENTERING SOME HOMES IN GORDO.  PONDING OF WATER ON
ROADWAYS...AND OVERFLOW OF SMALL STREAMS IS ALSO LIKELY IN THIS AREA.
ALTHOUGH THE STORMS ARE GRADUALLY WEAKENING...ADDITIONAL RAINFALL
AMOUNTS OF UP TO ONE INCH ARE POSSIBLE OVER EASTERN PICKENS
COUNTY...AGGRAVATING THE THREAT OF FLOODING THIS EVENING.
 
DURING HEAVY RAINS... KEEP CHILDREN AWAY FROM STORM DRAINS...
WATER CATCHMENTS... AND WATERWAYS. SHALLOW... GENTLY FLOWING WATER
CAN BECOME A RAGING TORRENT IN A MATTER OF MINUTES.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 30, 5:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWinston35 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.