Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 59, NWS Birmingham, AL

August 12, 1998Walker County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at Aug 12, 1998, 9:17 AM CDT for Walker County, Alabama. It was in force for 2 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
Aug 12, 1998, 9:17 AM CDT (14:17 UTC)
Expired
Aug 12, 1998, 11:45 AM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Walker County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 84 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1998-08-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 196 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1998-08-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 18 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
196 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-113 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1151 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
18 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
49 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 121418
FFWBHM
ALC127-121645-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
917 AM CDT WED AUG 12 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  WALKER COUNTY... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 1145 AM CDT

* AT 915 AM... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED
  THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN FROM CARBON HILL EASTWARD
  THROUGH MANCHESTER...JASPER...CORDOVA AND SUMMITON. MOVEMENT WAS
  SLOWLY TO THE EAST.

* VERY HEAVY RAIN HAS ALREADY FALLEN OVER WALKER COUNTY THIS MORNING
  ...WITH RADAR ESTIMATES OF AROUND 3 INCHES IN SOME PLACES.
  ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND MOVE
  ACROSS THE SAME SECTIONS OF THE COUNTY.  THIS WILL LIKELY CAUSE
  FLASH FLOODING.

DON'T DRIVE ACROSS FLOODED ROADS! MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN
AUTOMOBILES.


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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 12, 9:37 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXJefferson2 hr
Aug 12, 3:15 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXDeKalb2 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.