Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 82, NWS Birmingham, AL

August 18, 2003Jefferson County, Shelby County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at Aug 18, 2003, 4:07 PM CDT for Jefferson County, Shelby County, Alabama. It was in force for 113 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 18, 2003, 4:07 PM CDT (21:07 UTC)
Expired: Aug 18, 2003, 6:00 PM CDT
In force: 113 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Jefferson County, AL, Shelby County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 25 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:10 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, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 24 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: 948 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -66 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1131 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 33 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 182108
FFWBHM
ALC073-117-182300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
407 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 600 PM CDT

* AT 407 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY 
RAIN OVER HOOVER...MOVING SOUTH AT 5 MPH. AREAS FROM VESTAVIA 
HILLS...HOOVER...PELHAM...ALABASTER...AND CALERA WILL SEE ONE TO 
THREE INCHES OF RAIN IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.

MOST FLASH FLOODING DEATHS ARE AUTOMOBILE RELATED. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO
CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR OTHER LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL ONE...ON FOOT. TO
ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP 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 3349 8674 3343 8695 3322 8683 3334 8665

$$

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS74 KBMX 182209
FFSBHM
ALC073-117-182230-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
509 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR SHELBY AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES HAS 
BEEN CANCELLED...

AT 509 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THAT
RAINFALL HAS DIMINISHED ACROSS SHELBY AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES. REPORTS
ACROSS THE AREA SHOW THAT THE FLOODING THREAT IS OVER...THUS THE
WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

LAT...LON 3359 8661 3322 8656 3325 8690 3361 8701

$$

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.