Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 34, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 22, 1997Bullock County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at Jul 22, 1997, 5:18 PM CDT for Bullock 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
Jul 22, 1997, 5:18 PM CDT (22:18 UTC)
Expired
Jul 22, 1997, 7:20 PM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Bullock County, AL

The radar

The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 49 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:19 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 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 156 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 1997-07-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 42 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 1997-07-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 49 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
42 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
557 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
49 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
74 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 222219
FFWBHM
ALC011-230020-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
518 PM CDT TUE JUL 22 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 720 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...EASTERN BULLOCK COUNTY
 
AT 518 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
CONTINUING ACROSS PARTS OF EASTERN BULLOCK COUNTY.  THE RAIN EXTENDED
FROM JUST SOUTH OF UNION SPRINGS...TO THE THREE NOTCH AREA TO THE
NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE COUNTY. THE RAIN WILL CONTINUE TO FALL ACROSS
THIS AREA THROUGH 715 PM. RAINFALL AMOUNTS...PER RADAR ESTIMATES...ARE
IN THE 3 TO 5 INCH RANGE ACROSS THAT AREA.  ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WILL
CAUSE FLOODING OF ROADS...LOW LYING AREAS...AND FLOOD PRONE LOCATIONS
ACROSS THE EASTERN PARTS OF THE COUNTY.
 
DURING HEAVY RAINS... KEEP CHILDREN AWAY FROM STORM DRAINS...
WATER CAThCHMENTS... 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
Jul 21, 7:43 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXGreene, Hale, Tuscaloosa4 hr
Jul 21, 11:41 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXGreene, Hale, Tuscaloosa3 hr
Jul 22, 12:54 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXPickens4 hr
Jul 22, 2:51 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLee34 min
Jul 22, 2:56 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXChambers29 min
Jul 22, 3:33 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXGreene, Marengo3 hr
Jul 22, 3:41 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXRussell34 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.