Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 14, NWS Mobile, AL

July 20, 1997Baldwin County, Mobile County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this flash flood warning at Jul 20, 1997, 3:00 PM CDT for Baldwin County, Mobile County, Alabama. It was in force for 6 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 20, 1997, 3:00 PM CDT (20:00 UTC)
Expired
Jul 20, 1997, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Baldwin County, AL, Mobile County, AL

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 25 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:02 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

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 172 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 12:00Z on 1997-07-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1318 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 12:00Z on 1997-07-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 33 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
1318 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-37 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
939 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
37 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 KMOB 202011
FFWMOB
ALC003-097-200200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
300 PM CDT SUN JUL 20 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE AL HAS EXTENDED THE
FLOOD WARNING UNTIL 900 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN SOUTHWESTERN ALABAMA...

   ...BALDWIN
   ...MOBILE

ALTHOUGH WATER HAS RECEDED FROM MANY OF THE PREVIOUSLY FLOODED ROADS
AND LOW AREAS...THE THREAT OF ADDITIONAL RAIN WILL LINGER THROUGH THE
EARLY EVENING TONIGHT...AND POSSIBLY LONGER.  ONLY AN INCH OR TWO OF
RAIN IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME COULD CAUSE WATER TO RISE BACK OVER
THESE AREAS...CAUSING MORE FLOODING IN THE SAME PLACES.  OTHER AREAS
OF CONCERN ARE THOSE ON BOTH SIDES OF THE DELTA NORTH OF MOBILE BAY...
WHERE HEAVY RAINS HAVE FALLEN DURING MUCH OF THE DAY TODAY.
.
RAIN ASSOCIATED WITH THE REMAINS OF DANNY CONTINUES OVER MUCH
OF MOBILE AND BALDWIN COUNTIES...AND HAS SHOWN LITTLE OR NO
TENDENCY TO MOVE OUT OF THE AREA.  AT THE PRESENT TIME MOST OF
THE RAIN IS RELATIVELY LIGHT...BUT THERE ARE POCKETS OF HEAVIER
RAIN EMBEDDED IN THE LARGE RAIN SHIELD.  IT IS THESE AREAS OF
HEAVIER RAIN THAT COULD AGGRAVATE EXISTING FLOOD PROBLEMS...OR
CAUSE NEW ONES.
RM
6

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 19, 7:17 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMOBBaldwin9 hr
Jul 20, 3:29 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningMOBBaldwin, Mobile6 hr
Jul 20, 9:00 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningMOBBaldwin, Mobile6 hr

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.