Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Birmingham, AL

February 28, 1997Clay County, Cleburne County, Randolph County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at Feb 28, 1997, 9:13 AM CST for Clay County, Cleburne County, Randolph 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: Feb 28, 1997, 9:13 AM CST (15:13 UTC)
Expired: Feb 28, 1997, 12:15 PM CST
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Randolph County, AL

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 97 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:13 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

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 3.2 hours before the alert went out and 103 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: 328 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 478 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 223 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 255 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 281517
FFWBHM
ALC015-027-029-111-019-055-281815-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
913 AM CST FRI FEB 28 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1215 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...CALHOUN COUNTY...CLAY COUNTY...CLEBURNE COUNTY...RANDOLPH COUNTY
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...CHEROKEE COUNTY...ETOWAH COUNTY
 
AT 915 AM....RADAR CONTINUED TO INDICATE THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY
RAINFALL MOVING EASTWARD ACROSS NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA. GAGE
REPORTS AND RADAR ESTIMATES INDICATE THAT TWO TO THREE INCHES OF
RAINFALL HAVE OCCURRED ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE WARNED COUNTIES...WITH
ISOLATED REPORTS IN EXCESS OF THREE INCHES IN RANDOLPH COUNTY. SERIOUS
FLOODING OF STREETS AND HIGHWAYS HAS OCCURRED THROUGHOUT
ETOWAH COUNTY DUE TO THESE HEAVY RAINS...WITH SOME REPORTS OF WATER
COVERING ROADS TO A DEPTH OF FOUR FEET BETWEEN ATALLA AND GADSDEN AS OF
900 AM.
 
ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF ONE INCH OR MORE ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS
PORTIONS OF RANDOLPH...CLEBURNE...AND CHEROKEE COUNTIES DURING THE NEXT
HOUR...AGGRAVATING THE FLASH FLOODING THREAT.
 
 
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHERR GROUND.
 
 
 
&

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Feb 28, 7:51 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Coosa, Talladega	54 min
Feb 28, 8:14 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Clay	46 min
Feb 28, 8:19 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Bibb	3 hr
Feb 28, 8:32 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tallapoosa	43 min
Feb 28, 8:41 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Coosa	34 min
Feb 28, 8:53 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Clay	37 min
Feb 28, 9:09 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tallapoosa	36 min
Feb 28, 9:13 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Calhoun, Cherokee, Etowah	3 hr
Feb 28, 9:13 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Randolph	47 min
Feb 28, 9:28 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chambers	47 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Alabama, 1997 Every 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.