Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 6, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 2, 1997Lauderdale County, Limestone County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at Mar 2, 1997, 7:29 PM CST for Lauderdale County, Limestone 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: Mar 2, 1997, 7:29 PM CST (01:29 UTC)
Expired: Mar 2, 1997, 10:30 PM CST
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Lauderdale County, AL, Limestone County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 1.5 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-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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 485 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 196 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 236 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 KHSV 030145 COR
FFWHSV
ALC033-059-077-079-083-030430-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED...CORRECTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
729 PM CST SUN MAR 2 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONSS...

IN NORTH ALABAMA

   ...COLBERT COUNTY...FRANKLIN COUNTY...LAUDERDALE COUNTY
   ...LAWRENCE COUNTY...LIMESTONE COUNTY

AT 725 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN HUNTSVILLE INDICATED A LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS CONTAINING VERY HEAVY RAIN STRETCHING FROM EASTERN
LAUDERDALE COUNTY SOUTHWARD INTO WESTERN LAWRENCE COUNTY NEAR MOUNT
HOPE.  THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 TO 45 MILES AN
HOUR...AND IN ADDITION TO THE HEAVY RAIN...MAY CONTAIN DANGEROUS CLOUD
TO GROUND LIGHTNING...GUSTY WINDS...AND POSSIBLY SOME HAIL.

SOME STREET FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED ACROSS NORTHWEST ALABAMA WITH
THIS LINE OF STORMS.  ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS CONTAINING MODERATE TO
HEAVY RAIN WILL CONTINUE TO TRACK OUT OF NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AN
INTO THESE ALREADY SATURATED AREAS...CAUSING FLOODING CONDITIONS TO
WORSEN.

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 HIGHER GROUND.

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.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 2, 7:29 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Colbert, Franklin, Lawrence	3 hr
Mar 2, 11:15 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Colbert, Lauderdale	45 min
Mar 2, 11:35 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marion	40 min
Mar 2, 11:38 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale	67 min
Mar 2, 11:55 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lamar	50 min
Mar 3, 12:05 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marion	55 min
Mar 3, 12:29 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Fayette	61 min
Mar 3, 12:45 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Colbert, Lauderdale, Lawrence	60 min
Mar 3, 12:45 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Franklin	60 min
Mar 3, 12:46 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Winston	59 min
Mar 3, 12:57 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marion	18 min
Mar 3, 1:02 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Walker	58 min
Mar 3, 1:21 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Limestone	69 min
Mar 3, 1:41 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lawrence, Morgan	64 min
Mar 3, 2:03 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Limestone	57 min
Mar 3, 2:11 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Madison, Morgan	64 min
Mar 3, 2:41 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marshall	64 min
Mar 3, 2:46 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Blount	44 min
Mar 3, 2:59 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Etowah	46 min
Mar 3, 3:50 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Coosa, Elmore	40 min
Mar 3, 4:10 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Coosa, Tallapoosa	65 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.