Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 31, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 21, 1997Greene County, Hale County, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at Jul 21, 1997, 11:41 PM CDT for Greene County, Hale County, Tuscaloosa 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: Jul 21, 1997, 11:41 PM CDT (04:41 UTC)
Expired: Jul 22, 1997, 2:45 AM CDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:41 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

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 4.7 hours before the alert went out and 89 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: 810 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 487 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 62 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 38 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 220443
FFWBHM
ALC063-065-125-220745-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1141 PM CDT MON JUL 21 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS EXTENDED THE
FLASH FLOOD WARNING UNTIL  245 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
LOCATIONS...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...GREENE COUNTY...HALE COUNTY...TUSCALOOSA COUNTY
 
THE REMNANTS OF TROPICAL STORM DANNY REMAIN CENTERED OVER EXTREME
SOUTHWEST TUSCALOOSA COUNTY. THE CENTER AND THE ASSOCIATED HEAVY
RAINFALL HAS SHOWN ONLY A VERY SLIGHT DRIFT NORTHWARD OVER THE LAST 3
HOURS. HEAVY RAINFALL SHOULD CONTINUE OVER THE AREA FOR AT LEAST 2 OR 3
MORE HOURS. THE HEAVIEST RAINS HAVE FALLEN OVER EXTREME SOUTHWEST
TUSCALOOSA COUNTY AND JUST EAST OF EUTAW IN GREENE
COUNTY.
 
 
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.
 
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 IN8 RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 21, 7:43 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Greene, Hale, Tuscaloosa	4 hr
Jul 22, 12:54 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Pickens	4 hr
Jul 22, 2:51 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lee	34 min
Jul 22, 2:56 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Chambers	29 min
Jul 22, 3:33 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Greene, Marengo	3 hr
Jul 22, 3:41 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Russell	34 min
Jul 22, 5:18 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Bullock	2 hr

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.