Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 44, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 16, 2003Talladega County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at May 16, 2003, 6:02 PM CDT for Talladega 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 16, 2003, 6:02 PM CDT (23:02 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 2003, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Talladega County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 65 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:06 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 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 65 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 12:00Z on 2003-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 911 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2003-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 33 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
911 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
639 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
136 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS54 KBMX 162306
FFWBHM
ALC121-170200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
602 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  TALLADEGA COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 900 PM CDT

* AT 558 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY 
  RAIN OVER PORTIONS OF TALLADEGA COUNTY.  SEVERAL INCHES OF RAIN PER
  HOUR CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS.

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS WILL CAUSE FLASH 
FLOODING OF 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.

MOST FLASH FLOODING DEATHS ARE AUTOMOBILE RELATED. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO 
CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR OTHER LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS THE ROAD. 

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR OCCURRING.
IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNING AREA MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY. 

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

LAT...LON 3364 8613 3320 8639 3320 8621 3356 8592

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 1:15 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarion30 min
May 16, 1:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker, Winston55 min
May 16, 1:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion30 min
May 16, 2:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Marion60 min
May 16, 2:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker59 min
May 16, 2:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah21 min
May 16, 2:54 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXWalker51 min
May 16, 3:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette58 min
May 16, 3:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker59 min
May 16, 3:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson65 min
May 16, 4:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair54 min
May 16, 4:59 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXJefferson4 hr
May 16, 5:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson30 min
May 16, 5:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega51 min
May 16, 5:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby37 min
May 16, 5:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa41 min
May 16, 5:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega9 min
May 16, 5:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby33 min
May 16, 5:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega46 min
May 16, 6:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay25 min
May 16, 6:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa31 min
May 16, 6:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa58 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.