Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 16, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 5, 2003Jefferson County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at May 5, 2003, 8:53 PM CDT for Jefferson County, 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 outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 5, 2003, 8:53 PM CDT (01:53 UTC)
Expired
May 6, 2003, 1:00 AM CDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Jefferson County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 51 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:53 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, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 50 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 00:00Z on 2003-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1677 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 2003-05-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 216 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
1677 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1103 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
216 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
297 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.7
Supercell composite
21.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS54 KBMX 060153
FFWBHM
ALC073-060600-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
853 PM CDT MON MAY 5 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  JEFFERSON COUNTY IN ALABAMA

* UNTIL 100 AM CDT

* AT 847 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY
  RAIN 6 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GRAYSVILLE...OR ABOUT 4 MILES NORTHEAST
  OF MINOR...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS...HIGHWAYS AND UNDERPASSES. ADDITIONALLY...COUNTRY
ROADS AND FARMLANDS ALONG THE BANKS OF CREEKS AND STREAMS AND OTHER
LOW LYING AREAS ARE SUBJECT TO FLASH FLOODING.

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.

CALL 1-800-856-0758 TO REPORT FLOODING CONDITIONS.

LAT...LON 3364 8700 3347 8691 3358 8658 3379 8671

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 5, 7:09 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXWalker36 min
May 5, 7:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, St. Clair36 min
May 5, 7:24 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJefferson51 min
May 5, 7:25 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJefferson50 min
May 5, 8:03 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCalhoun27 min
May 5, 8:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion39 min
May 5, 8:06 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCleburne24 min
May 5, 8:16 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJefferson29 min
May 5, 8:25 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCleburne35 min
May 5, 8:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair63 min
May 5, 10:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar27 min
May 5, 10:39 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXBlount, Calhoun, St. Clair4 hr
May 5, 11:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Marion58 min
May 6, 12:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion, Winston65 min
May 6, 1:40 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXMarion3 hr
May 6, 9:54 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee66 min
May 6, 11:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount30 min
May 6, 11:11 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXCherokee3 hr
May 6, 11:12 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXBlount18 min
May 6, 11:38 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXEtowah37 min
May 6, 12:05 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCherokee40 min
May 6, 1:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega48 min
May 6, 3:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRandolph23 min
May 6, 5:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens, Tuscaloosa61 min
May 6, 6:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa34 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Alabama, 2003Every flash flood warning in 2003

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.