Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998
Flash Flood Warning 47, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at Jun 4, 1998, 2:29 PM CDT for Blount County, Cherokee County, Etowah 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
- Jun 4, 1998, 2:29 PM CDT (19:29 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 4, 1998, 5:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Blount County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Etowah County, AL
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 119 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1942 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -26 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 615 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 91 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 54 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.9
- Supercell composite
- 5.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 041932 FFWBHM ALC009-019-055-042230- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 229 PM CDT THU JUN 4 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... BLOUNT COUNTY... IN NORTHERN ALABAMA CHEROKEE COUNTY... IN NORTHERN ALABAMA ETOWAH COUNTY... IN NORTHERN ALABAMA * UNTIL 530 PM CDT * AT 230 PM... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN CONTINUING ACROSS THESE COUNTIES. MOVEMENT WAS SLOWLY EAST. * CONTINUOUS THUNDERSTORMS OVER BLOUNT...ETOWAH...AND CHEROKEE COUNTIES OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS WILL CAUSE FLOODING OF ROADWAYS AND LOW LYING AREAS THIS AFTERNOON. DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD! AREA RESIDENTS SHOULD MONITOR FLOOD CONDITIONS... AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND... SHOULD FLOOD WATERS THREATEN. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED... ACT QUICKLY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.
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
Special weather statement, Jun 4, 10:05 AM CDT, 4 hours 24 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-050300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1005 AM CDT THU JUN 4 1998 THE HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE THAT HAS KEPT THE AREA DRY FOR THE PAST FEW WEEKS HAS STARTED TO BREAK DOWN. SHOWERS HAVE BEGUN TO DEVELOP IN NORTHERN ALABAMA...AND ADDITIONAL SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO TONIGHT. AS TEMPERATURES CLIMB THIS AFTERNOON...THE AIRMASS WILL BECOME VERY UNSTABLE. THIS WILL ALLOW THUNDERSTORMS TO BECOME VERY STRONG... ESPECIALLY DURING THE PEAK HEATING OF THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. A FEW STORMS MAY EVEN BECOME SEVERE...AND THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS PLACED THE NORTHERN TWO THIRDS AND ALABAMA AND GEORGIA UNDER A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. THE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON WILL BE MAINLY PULSE TYPE...WHICH CAN GROW AND DIMINISH RAPIDLY. THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FROM THIS TYPE OF THUNDERSTORM IS GENERALLY DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. LATER IN THE AFTERNOON...AND TONIGHT...LINES OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH DAMAGING WINDS WILL ALSO BECOME A POSSIBILITY. STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL TV AND RADIO FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS THROUGH TONIGHT. THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTHWEST ALABAMA... SEE PRODUCT BHMSPSMOB. FOR SOUTHEAST ALABAMA... LOOK AT MIASPSTLH. FOR MORE WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT OUR INTERNET SITE ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT HTTP://WWW.ACESAG.AUBURN.EDU/DEPARTMENT/NWS/
Special weather statement, Jun 4, 10:05 AM CDT, 4 hours 24 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-050300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1005 AM CDT THU JUN 4 1998 THE HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE THAT HAS KEPT THE AREA DRY FOR THE PAST FEW WEEKS HAS STARTED TO BREAK DOWN. SHOWERS HAVE BEGUN TO DEVELOP IN NORTHERN ALABAMA...AND ADDITIONAL SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO TONIGHT. AS TEMPERATURES CLIMB THIS AFTERNOON...THE AIRMASS WILL BECOME VERY UNSTABLE. THIS WILL ALLOW THUNDERSTORMS TO BECOME VERY STRONG... ESPECIALLY DURING THE PEAK HEATING OF THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. A FEW STORMS MAY EVEN BECOME SEVERE...AND THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS PLACED THE NORTHERN TWO THIRDS AND ALABAMA AND GEORGIA UNDER A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. THE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON WILL BE MAINLY PULSE TYPE...WHICH CAN GROW AND DIMINISH RAPIDLY. THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FROM THIS TYPE OF THUNDERSTORM IS GENERALLY DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. LATER IN THE AFTERNOON...AND TONIGHT...LINES OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH DAMAGING WINDS WILL ALSO BECOME A POSSIBILITY. STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL TV AND RADIO FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS THROUGH TONIGHT. THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTHWEST ALABAMA... SEE PRODUCT BHMSPSMOB. FOR SOUTHEAST ALABAMA... LOOK AT MIASPSTLH. FOR MORE WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT OUR INTERNET SITE ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT HTTP://WWW.ACESAG.AUBURN.EDU/DEPARTMENT/NWS/
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 4, 12:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman | 35 min |
| Jun 4, 12:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount | 47 min |
| Jun 4, 1:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cherokee | 47 min |
| Jun 4, 1:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 34 min |
| Jun 4, 1:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 49 min |
| Jun 4, 1:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount | 33 min |
| Jun 4, 1:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman | 48 min |
| Jun 4, 1:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Etowah | 47 min |
| Jun 4, 1:52 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Cullman | 3 hr |
| Jun 4, 2:21 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Franklin | 2 hr |
| Jun 4, 2:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount | 66 min |
| Jun 4, 2:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cherokee | 47 min |
| Jun 4, 3:47 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Cullman, Winston | 2 hr |
| Jun 4, 4:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cherokee, Etowah | 46 min |
| Jun 4, 6:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby | 34 min |
| Jun 4, 6:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby, Talladega | 32 min |
Nearby
Flash Flood Warnings in Alabama, 1998Every flash flood warning in 1998
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.