Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002

Flash Flood Warning 20, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 10, 2002Marion County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at May 10, 2002, 8:16 AM CDT for Marion 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: May 10, 2002, 8:16 AM CDT (13:16 UTC)
Expired: May 10, 2002, 11:15 AM CDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Marion County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 148 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 782 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 60 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 76 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 
WGUS54 KBMX 101316
FFWBHM
ALC093-101615-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
815 AM CDT FRI MAY 10 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  MARION COUNTY IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA

* UNTIL 1115 AM CDT

* AT 805 AM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY 
RAIN ACROSS THE NORTH HALF OF MARION COUNTY.  RADAR ESTIMATES SHOWED 
OVER 2 INCHES OF RAIN FELL IN ONE HOUR...NEAR AND JUST SOUTHWEST OF 
HACKLEBURG.  AN ADDITIONAL 2 INCHES OF RAIN MAY FALL IN THE SAME 
AREA BETWEEN 8 AND 10 AM...WHICH WILL LIKELY CAUSE FLASH FLOODING.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS
SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY.
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR OCCURRING.
IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNING AREA MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY.
RESIDENTS LIVING ALONG STREAMS AND CREEKS SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE
PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS
SWIFTLY FLOWING WATERS OR WATERS OF UNKNOWN DEPTH BY FOOT OR BY
AUTOMOBILE. IF YOUR VEHICLE STALLS...ABANDON IT IMMEDIATELY AND SEEK
HIGHER GROUND.

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS74 KBMX 101507
FFSBHM
ALC093-101530-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1000 AM CDT FRI MAY 10 2002

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR MARION COUNTY UNTIL 1115 AM...

AT 1000 AM...RADAR SHOWED THAT THE RAIN HAD TAPERED OFF IN MARION 
COUNTY.  HOWEVER...CREEKS AND STREAMS WILL LIKELY REMAIN AT HIGH 
LEVELS THROUGH AT LEAST 1115 AM...DUE TO THE RAINFALL THAT FELL 
EARLIER THIS MORNING.

A COOPERATIVE OBSERVER IN HAMILTON REPORTED 2.2 INCHES OF RAIN FELL 
BETWEEN 830 AM AND 930 AM.  THE POLICE DEPARTMENT IN HACKLEBURG 
REPORTED WATER OVER SOME ROADS AROUND 845 AM.  RAINFALL ESTIMATES 
FROM RADAR SHOWED SOME AREAS BETWEEN HAMILTON AND HACKLEBURG 
RECEIVED MORE THAN 4 INCHES OF RAIN.  RUNOFF FROM THIS RAIN WILL 
CONTINUE TO CAUSE CREEKS AND STREAMS TO STAY AT HIGH LEVELS THROUGH 
THE MORNING.  THE AREA WITH THE HIGHEST THREAT OF FLOODING WILL BE 
BETWEEN HAMILTON AND HACKLEBURG...ALONG AND NEAR HIGHWAY 43.

MOST FLASH FLOODING DEATHS ARE AUTOMOBILE RELATED. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO 
CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR OTHER LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS THE ROAD. 
NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL ONE...ON FOOT. TO 
ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 10, 12:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Bibb	45 min
May 10, 1:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chilton	41 min
May 10, 1:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chilton, Coosa	61 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Alabama, 2002 Every flash flood warning in 2002

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.