Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 35, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 22, 1997Cleburne County, Randolph County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at Jul 22, 1997, 8:05 PM CDT for 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: Jul 22, 1997, 8:05 PM CDT (01:05 UTC)
Expired: Jul 22, 1997, 11:00 PM CDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Cleburne County, AL, Randolph County, AL

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:06 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 00:00Z, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 93 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: 1723 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 524 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 102 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 113 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 230107
FFWBHM
ALC029-111-230400-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
805 PM CDT TUE JUL 22 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...CLEBURNE COUNTY...RANDOLPH COUNTY
 
DURING THE PAST SEVERAL HOURS...HEAVY RAIN HAS FALLEN IN A NARROW BAND
FROM NEAR PIEDMONT SOUTHWARD TO JUST EAST OF HEFLIN TO JUST WEST OF
WEDOWEE. IN THE LAST HOUR ALONE...RADAR ESTIMATED MORE THAN THREE INCHES
OF RAIN ON THE CLEBURNE-RANDOLPH COUNTY LINE SOUTHWEST OF
HIGHTOWER.
 
ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINS ROTATING AROUND WHAT ONCE WAS "DANNY" WILL MOVE
ACROSS THE AREA FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT TWO TO THREE HOURS.
 
NO FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED YET...BUT YOU CAN EXPECT SMALL STREAMS
TO BECOME RAGING TORRENTS AND LEAVE THEIR BANKS AT ANY TIME.
 
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT.  IT'S
IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE RELATIVE TO STREAMS...RIVERS...OR
CREEKS WHICH CAN BECOME KILLERS IN HEAVY RAINS.  CAMPERS SHOULD
AVOID CAMPING ALONG STREAMS OR CREEKS DURING THREATENING RAINS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 22, 3:20 PM CDT, 4 hours 45 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
320 PM CDT TUE JUL 22 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0248 PM    OPELIKA                   AL   TORNADO
07/22/97   LEE                            STATE TROOPER OBSERVED
                                          POSSIBLE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN
                                          AT SHOPPING CENTER/TWO
                                          CARS DAMAGED/ROOF AIR
                                          UNITS DISPLACED/TREES DOWN
                                          ON I-85

Local storm report, Jul 22, 3:22 PM CDT, 4 hours 43 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
320 PM CDT TUE JUL 22 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0248 PM    OPELIKA                   AL   TORNADO
07/22/97   LEE                            STATE TROOPER OBSERVED
                                          POSSIBLE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN
                                          AT SHOPPING CENTER/TWO
                                          CARS DAMAGED/ROOF AIR
                                          UNITS DISPLACED/TREES DOWN
                                          ON I-85

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 22, 11:00 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Cleburne, Randolph	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.