Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 33, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 7, 2003St. Clair County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at May 7, 2003, 8:44 PM CDT for St. Clair 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 outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 7, 2003, 8:44 PM CDT (01:44 UTC)
Expired
May 7, 2003, 11:45 PM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County St. Clair County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:43 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, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 74 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 2003-05-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2242 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, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2003-05-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 95 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
2242 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
809 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
95 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
135 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.4
Supercell composite
8.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS54 KBMX 080148
FFWBHM
ALC115-080445-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
844 PM CDT WED MAY 7 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  ST. CLAIR COUNTY IN ALABAMA

* UNTIL 1145 PM CDT

* AT 843 PM CDT...THE PUBLIC REPORTED THAT FLASH FLOODING IS 
OCCURRING ACROSS ST. CLAIR COUNTY.  THIS WARNING EXTENDS THE 
PREVIOUS WARNING.  THE HEAVY RAINS HAVE MOVED OUT OF THE AREA...AND 
THE FLOOD WATERS SHOULD SUBSIDE THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS.

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.

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

LAT...LON 3376 8648 3354 8647 3352 8624 3379 8609
          3397 8618

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 7, 7:02 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXTallapoosa18 min
May 7, 7:04 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXTalladega4 hr
May 7, 7:11 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXCalhoun4 hr
May 7, 7:12 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXChambers48 min
May 7, 7:22 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXClay, Randolph4 hr
May 7, 8:37 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXJefferson3 hr
May 7, 9:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers, Lee48 min
May 7, 10:35 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXCalhoun5 hr
May 7, 10:42 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXTalladega5 hr
May 7, 10:56 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXJefferson5 hr
May 7, 11:06 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXClay, Randolph4 hr
May 7, 11:25 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXSt. Clair3 hr
May 8, 1:46 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXSt. Clair2 hr
May 8, 2:48 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXClay, Randolph4 hr
May 8, 3:51 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXJefferson3 hr
May 8, 4:00 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXCalhoun, St. Clair, Talladega3 hr

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.