Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 61, NWS Birmingham, AL

June 17, 2003Jefferson County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at Jun 17, 2003, 5:19 PM CDT for Jefferson County, Alabama. It was in force for 86 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jun 17, 2003, 5:19 PM CDT (22:19 UTC)
Expired: Jun 17, 2003, 6:45 PM CDT
In force: 86 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Jefferson County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 45 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:20 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, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 44 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: 1195 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -37 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 586 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 40 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS54 KBMX 172222
FFWBHM
ALC073-172345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
519 PM CDT TUE JUN 17 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 645 PM CDT

* AT 515 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY 
RAIN OVER HOMEWOOD...OR ABOUT 4 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BIRMINGHAM...  
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.  ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE FROM 
SOUTH TO NORTH ACROSS JEFFERSON COUNTY FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR SO.  
RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED FROM THESE STORMS.

* AREAS AFFECTED INCLUDE THE CITY OF BIRMINGHAM AND HOMEWOOD.

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS...URBAN AREAS...HIGHWAYS...STREETS AND UNDERPASSES
AS WELL AS OTHER DRAINAGE AREAS AND LOW LYING SPOTS.

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.

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 3350 8699 3337 8683 3366 8656 3382 8680

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 17, 4:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Winston	23 min
Jun 17, 4:33 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Winston	117 min
Jun 17, 4:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson	31 min
Jun 17, 5:06 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Marion	114 min
Jun 17, 5:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Shelby	33 min
Jun 17, 5:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Shelby	19 min
Jun 17, 5:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson, Shelby	17 min
Jun 17, 6:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson	27 min
Jun 17, 6:10 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Shelby	2 hr
Jun 17, 6:41 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Jefferson	79 min
Jun 17, 6:58 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Blount	2 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Alabama, 2003 Every 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.