Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 78, NWS Birmingham, AL

August 3, 2003Jefferson County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at Aug 3, 2003, 5:46 PM CDT for Jefferson County, Alabama. It was in force for 104 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: Aug 3, 2003, 5:46 PM CDT (22:46 UTC)
Expired: Aug 3, 2003, 7:30 PM CDT
In force: 104 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Jefferson County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 43 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: 1515 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -38 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 846 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 42 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 47 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS54 KBMX 032247
FFWBHM
ALC073-040030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
546 PM CDT SUN AUG 3 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 730 PM CDT

* AT 543 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY 
RAIN NEAR THE BIRMINGHAM AIRPORT...OR ABOUT 9 MILES   EAST OF 
BIRMINGHAM...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.  OVER 3 INCHES OF RAIN HAS BEEN 
RECORDED AT THE BIRMINGHAM AIRPORT.

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.

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 3354 8705 3340 8688 3355 8658 3379 8677

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 3, 3:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lamar, Marion	61 min
Aug 3, 3:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Winston	36 min
Aug 3, 4:04 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lowndes	26 min
Aug 3, 4:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Sumter	36 min
Aug 3, 4:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson	60 min
Aug 3, 4:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Pike	41 min
Aug 3, 5:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Sumter	34 min
Aug 3, 5:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Greene	38 min

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.