Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002

Flash Flood Warning 27, NWS Birmingham, AL

August 18, 2002Madison County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at Aug 18, 2002, 4:54 PM CDT for Madison County, Alabama. It was in force for 51 min. 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 18, 2002, 4:54 PM CDT (21:54 UTC)
Expired
Aug 18, 2002, 5:45 PM CDT
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Madison County, AL

The radar

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 46 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:56 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 152 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 2002-08-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2055 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 2002-08-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 49 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
2055 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
662 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
49 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
13 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 182154
FFWBHM
ALC089-182245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
451 PM CDT SUN AUG 18 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  MADISON COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 545 PM CDT

* AT 451 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY 
RAIN OVER THE CITY OF MADISON AND THE CITY OF HUNSTVILLE.
SOME ROADS WERE BEING BLOCKED IN THE CITY OF MADISON.  A CLUSTER OF 
THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS SOUTHERN MADISON COUNTY WILL CONTINUE TO 
PRODUCE HEAVY RAINFALL AS THEY MOVE SLOWLY TO THE SOUTH.  

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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 18, 3:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan29 min
Aug 18, 4:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison48 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Alabama, 2002Every 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.