Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 55, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 14, 1998Lauderdale County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at Jul 14, 1998, 3:26 PM CDT for Lauderdale 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 14, 1998, 3:26 PM CDT (20:26 UTC)
Expired
Jul 14, 1998, 6:25 PM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Lauderdale County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 167 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1998-07-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 149 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1998-07-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 130 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
149 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-23 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
748 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
130 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
180 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 142026
FFWBHM
ALC077-142325-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
326 PM CDT TUE JUL 14 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  LAUDERDALE COUNTY... IN NORTHERN ALABAMA

* UNTIL 625 PM CDT

* AT 320 PM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED
  SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS JUST ENTERING THE SOUTHWEST
  SECTIONS OF THE COUNTY.  ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL
  ENTER LAUDERDALE COUNTY DURING THE EVENING HOURS.  LAUDERDALE COUNTY
  EMA REPORTS WIDESPREAD FLOODING ALONG SHOAL CREEK IN THE VICINITY OF
  ROUTE 8.


 *THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 10 TO 20 MPH.

 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, Jul 14, 10:12 AM CDT, 5 hours 14 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-150310-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1012 AM CDT TUE JUL 14 1998

LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE FOR THE EXTREME NORTHWEST
SECTIONS OF THE AREA.  A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR A
PORTION OF THE NORTHWEST.  AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE AREA NEAR
MEMPHIS WILL GRADUALLY SHIFT BACK TO THE WEST THROUGH TONIGHT.
WITH A MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR MASS IN PLACE...SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS REMAIN POSSIBLE FOR THE EXTREME NORTH WITH
SCATTERED STORMS EXPECTED ELSEWHERE.  THE MAIN THREAT THROUGH TONIGHT
WILL BE FROM HEAVY RAINFALL...AS THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS
ALREADY SATURATED GROUND.

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 LATER TODAY. 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, Jul 14, 10:12 AM CDT, 5 hours 14 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-150310-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1012 AM CDT TUE JUL 14 1998

LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE FOR THE EXTREME NORTHWEST
SECTIONS OF THE AREA.  A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR A
PORTION OF THE NORTHWEST.  AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE AREA NEAR
MEMPHIS WILL GRADUALLY SHIFT BACK TO THE WEST THROUGH TONIGHT.
WITH A MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR MASS IN PLACE...SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS REMAIN POSSIBLE FOR THE EXTREME NORTH WITH
SCATTERED STORMS EXPECTED ELSEWHERE.  THE MAIN THREAT THROUGH TONIGHT
WILL BE FROM HEAVY RAINFALL...AS THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS
ALREADY SATURATED GROUND.

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 LATER TODAY. 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 13, 11:26 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXColbert, Lauderdale4 hr
Jul 13, 11:26 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXFranklin4 hr
Jul 14, 9:15 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXLauderdale3 hr
Jul 14, 12:13 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXLauderdale3 hr
Jul 14, 6:32 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXLauderdale12 hr

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.