Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 20, NWS Mobile, AL

July 21, 1997Choctaw County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this flash flood warning at Jul 21, 1997, 2:40 PM CDT for Choctaw County, Alabama. It was in force for 12 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, 2:40 PM CDT (19:40 UTC)
Expired
Jul 22, 1997, 2:45 AM CDT
In force
12 hr
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Choctaw County, AL

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 149 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:42 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

Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 12:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 174 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, Jackson, MS at 12:00Z on 1997-07-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2405 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Jackson, MS at 12:00Z on 1997-07-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 57 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
2405 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-38 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
760 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
88 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 211942
FFWMOB
ALC023-220745-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
240 PM CDT MON JUL 21 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 245 AM CDT TUESDAY MORNING
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
 
   ...CHOCTAW COUNTY
 
AT 245 PM...NWS DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR IN MOBILE,AL INDICATED HEAVY RAINS
TO BE SUBSIDING SOMEWHAT OVER NORTHERN CHOCTAW COUNTY AS THE REMNANTS OF
DANNY WOBBLES SLOWLY NORTHWARD. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY
RAIN WILL DEVELOP OFF AND ON THROUGH DARK OVER THE
COUNTY.
 
BOTH RADAR AND SATELLITE ESTIMATES INDICATE THAT BETWEEN 10 AND 12
INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN OVER CHOCTAW COUNTY SINCE THE EARLY MORNING
HOURS. AN ADDITIONAL INCH OR TWO CAN BE EXPECTED IN SCATTERED LOCATIONS
UNTIL THUNDERSTORMS DIMINISH SOMEWHAT LATER THIS EVENING.
 
SEVERAL ROADS HAVE BEEN CLOSED DUE TO HIGH WATER. ALSO SMALL CREEKS AND
RIVERS MAY BE SWOLLEN OR ABOVE BANKFULL. AS MORE EXCESS RAINFALL RUNOFF
CONTINUES TO OCCUR THROUGHOUT THE EVENING...EXPECT FLOODING TO CONINUTE
WITH SOME ROADS REMAINING INUNDATED.  IT HAS BEEN REPORTED THAT HIGHWAY
ACCESS BETWEEN MERIDIAN,MS AND BUTLER, AL HAS IS CLOSED.
 
THIS FLOOD WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED AS A REMINDER THAT FLOODING IS
OCCURRING. IF YOU LIVE NEAR SMALL CREEKS...TRIBUTIRIES OR RIVERS PLEASE
STAY TUNED TO LATER STATEMENTS AND THE EXTENSION OF THIS WARNING.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY.  NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EV EN A SMALL
ONE...ON FOOT.  TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 20, 10:55 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMOBBaldwin, Mobile12 hr
Jul 21, 7:09 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningMOBChoctaw3 hr
Jul 21, 9:12 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningMOBChoctaw6 hr
Jul 21, 11:12 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningMOBBaldwin, Mobile7 hr
Jul 21, 11:15 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningMOBBaldwin, Mobile13 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.