Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 61, NWS Birmingham, AL

August 12, 1998DeKalb County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at Aug 12, 1998, 3:15 PM CDT for DeKalb 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, 3:15 PM CDT (20:15 UTC)
Expired
Aug 12, 1998, 5:15 PM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County DeKalb County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 168 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 122015
FFWBHM
ALC049-122215-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 515 PM CDT

* BETWEEN 2 AND 3 PM... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR
  SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN IN A BAND ALONG TOWN
  CREEK...FROM LAKEVIEW UPSTREAM TO SEQUOYAH CAVERNS. THERE WAS
  LITTLE MOVEMENT.

* NEARLY STATIONARY THUNDERSTORMS ALONG TOWN CREEK WILL CAUSE RAPID
  RISES ON THE CREEK.  TOWNS AND COMMUNITIES ALONG TOWN CREEK...
  ESPECIALLY FROM FYFFE DOWNSTREAM...SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FODR
  RAPIDLY RISING WATER.

DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD!

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, Aug 12, 10:33 AM CDT, 4 hours 42 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-110225-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1033 AM CDT WED AUG 12 1998

AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE COMBINED WITH ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL MOSITURE
ALLOWED WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORMS TO BREAK OUT OVER THE NORTHERN HALF
OF THE STATE.  SLOW STORM MOVEMENT...DUE TO LIGHT UPPER LEVEL STEERING
ALLOWED THE STORMS TO PRODUCE COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF RAINFALL OVER CENTRAL
ALABAMA.

AS THE DAY WEARS ON THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WILL BE FLASH
FLOODING.  ADDITIONAL STORM DEVELOPMENT LATE THIS AFTERNOON...ESPECAILLY
ESPECIALLY OVER RAIN SOAKED AREAS WILL ADD TO THE FLASH FLOOD THREAT.

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, Aug 12, 10:33 AM CDT, 4 hours 42 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-110225-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1033 AM CDT WED AUG 12 1998

AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE COMBINED WITH ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL MOSITURE
ALLOWED WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORMS TO BREAK OUT OVER THE NORTHERN HALF
OF THE STATE.  SLOW STORM MOVEMENT...DUE TO LIGHT UPPER LEVEL STEERING
ALLOWED THE STORMS TO PRODUCE COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF RAINFALL OVER CENTRAL
ALABAMA.

AS THE DAY WEARS ON THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WILL BE FLASH
FLOODING.  ADDITIONAL STORM DEVELOPMENT LATE THIS AFTERNOON...ESPECAILLY
ESPECIALLY OVER RAIN SOAKED AREAS WILL ADD TO THE FLASH FLOOD THREAT.

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
Aug 12, 9:17 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXWalker2 hr
Aug 12, 9:37 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXJefferson2 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.