Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002
Flash Flood Warning 31, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at Sep 22, 2002, 3:32 AM CDT for 4 counties in Alabama. It was in force for 4 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
- Sep 22, 2002, 3:32 AM CDT (08:32 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 22, 2002, 7:30 AM CDT
- In force
- 4 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Jefferson County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Talladega County, AL
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 42 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:36 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
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 42 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1963 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -14 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1044 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 13 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 27 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 65 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WGUS54 KBMX 220832 FFWBHM ALC073-115-117-121-221230- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 330 AM CDT SUN SEP 22 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... JEFFERSON COUNTY IN ALABAMA SHELBY COUNTY IN ALABAMA ST. CLAIR COUNTY IN ALABAMA TALLADEGA COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA * UNTIL 730 AM CDT * AT 330 AM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN FROM THE BIRMINGHAM AREA...TO PELL CITY...TO VINCENT...TO TALLADEGA. THE AREA OF HEAVY RAIN WAS NEARLY STATIONARY. A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR OCCURRING. BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED ACT QUICKLY. MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.
3 follow-up statements
000 WGUS74 KBMX 220850 FFSBHM ALC073-115-117-121-221230- FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 346 AM CDT SUN SEP 22 2002 A FLASH FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR SHELBY...TALLADEGA... JEFFERSON AND ST. CLAIR COUNTIES UNTIL 730 AM CDT. AT 346 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY RAINFALL CONTINUING FROM THE BIRMINGHAM AREA...EAST ACROSS SHELBY AND SOUTHERN ST. CLAIR COUNTIES...AND INTO TALLADEGA COUNTY. RAIN IS FALLING AT A RATE OF UP TO 3 INCHES PER HOUR IN THIS AREA AND FLASH FLOODING IS LIKELY. RADARS ESTIMATE THAT SOME SPOTS MAY HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED 4...OR MORE...INCHES OF RAIN. 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.
000 WGUS74 KBMX 221010 FFSBHM ALC073-115-117-121-221230- FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 505 AM CDT SUN SEP 22 2002 A FLASH FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR SHELBY...TALLADEGA... JEFFERSON AND ST. CLAIR COUNTIES UNTIL 730 AM CDT. AT 505 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL CONTINUING ACROSS THE WARNING AREA. SOME OF THE HEAVIEST RAIN WAS IN THE BIRMINGHAM METROPOLITAN AREA... ACROSS MUCH OF SHELBY SOUNTY...AND OVER SOUTHERN TALLADEGA COUNTY. RADARS ESTIMATE THAT FROM 4 TO 6 INCHES OF RAIN HAVE FALLEN OVER PARTS OF THE WARNING AREA SINCE MIDNIGHT...AND AN ADDITIONAL 2 INCHES...OR MORE...ARE POSSIBLE IN SPOTS THROUGH 7 AM. IN THE BIRMINGHAM AREA SOME STREETS HAVE BEEN CLOSED AND WATER HAS BEEN REPORTED IN SOME HOUSES. 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.
000 WGUS74 KBMX 221116 FFSBHM ALC073-115-117-121-221230- FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 615 AM CDT SUN SEP 22 2002 A FLASH FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR SHELBY...TALLADEGA... ST. CLAIR...AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES UNTIL 730 AM CDT. AT 615 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL CONTINUING ACROSS THE WARNING AREA. THE HEAVIEST RAIN HAS MOVED SOUTH ACROSS SHELBY AND SOUTHERN TALLADEGA COUNTIES WHERE ADDITIONAL RAINFALL TOTALS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH 730 AM. ALTHOUGH THE RAIN HAS LESSENED SOME OVER JEFFERSON AND ST. CLAIR COUNTIES...FLOODING CONTINUES. AS MUCH AS 6 INCHES OF RAIN HAS LIKELY FALLEN OVER PARTS OF THE WARNING AREA OVERNIGHT. THERE ARE REPORTS OF ROAD CLOSURES IN JEFFERSON COUNTY...TALLADEGA COUNTY IN THE SYLACAUGA AREA...AND SHELBY COUNTY IN THE WILSONVILLE AND COLUMBIANA AREAS. SEVERE FLOODING WAS REPORTED IN THE VESTAVIA HILLS AREA OF JEFFERSON COUNTY. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 22, 1:56 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Clay, Randolph | 4 hr |
| Sep 22, 4:58 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Talladega | 47 min |
| Sep 22, 5:24 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Coosa | 51 min |
| Sep 22, 6:03 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Chilton, Coosa | 4 hr |
| Sep 22, 6:56 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Bibb, Tuscaloosa | 4 hr |
| Sep 22, 7:27 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Jefferson, Shelby, Talladega | 4 hr |
| Sep 22, 10:00 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Chilton, Coosa | 60 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.