Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002

Flash Flood Warning 8, NWS Birmingham, AL

January 24, 2002Franklin County, Lawrence County, Limestone County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at Jan 24, 2002, 3:59 PM CST for Franklin County, Lawrence County, Limestone 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: Jan 24, 2002, 3:59 PM CST (21:59 UTC)
Expired: Jan 24, 2002, 7:00 PM CST
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Franklin County, AL, Lawrence County, AL, Limestone County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 166 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: 120 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 481 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 222 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 254 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS54 KBMX 242159
FFWBHM
ALC059-079-083-250200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
359 PM CST THU JAN 24 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  LIMESTONE COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA
  FRANKLIN COUNTY IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA
  LAWRENCE COUNTY IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA

* UNTIL 800 PM CST

* AT 355 PM CST...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LARGE 
AREA OF MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINS...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 
MPH...ACROSS NORTHWEST ALABAMA.  THESE RAINS WILL PRODUCE ANOTHER 1 
INCH OF RAIN THIS EVENING.  THIS WILL ONLY FURTHER AGGRAVATE THE 
FLOODING SITUATION OVER THE AREA.  LIMESTONE COUNTY EMA REPORTED 
WATER OVER SEVERAL ROADS.

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.

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.

TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER HAVE THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE.

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS74 KBMX 242300
FFSBHM
ALC033-059-077-079-083-250059-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
459 PM CST THU JAN 24 2002

FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS CONTINUE IN EFFECT ACROSS LAUDERDALE AND
COLBERT COUNTIES UNTIL 700 PM.  FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS ALSO CONTINUE
IN EFFECT ACROSS FRANKLIN...LAWRENCE...AND LIMESTONE COUNTIES
UNTIL 800 PM.

AT 455 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADARS CONTINUED TO INDICATE
A LARGE AREA OF RAIN...MODERATE TO HEAVY AT TIMES...ACROSS
NORTHWEST ALABAMA.  THE HEAVIEST RAINS WERE OVER LAUDERDALE AND
LIMESTONE COUNTIES...MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

SATELLITE IMAGERY AND RADAR DATA INDICATE MORE MODERATE RAINS
OVER NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI...SOUTHWEST OF TUPELO...MOVING TOWARD
NORTHWEST ALABAMA.

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.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 24, 5:40 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone	3 hr
Jan 24, 8:45 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Limestone	2 hr
Jan 24, 2:46 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Colbert, Lauderdale	4 hr

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.