Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 1, NWS Huntsville, AL

February 14, 2003Lauderdale County, Alabama

NWS Huntsville, AL issued this flash flood warning at Feb 14, 2003, 5:49 PM CST for Lauderdale County, Alabama. It was in force for 6 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
Feb 14, 2003, 5:49 PM CST (23:49 UTC)
Expired
Feb 15, 2003, 12:00 AM CST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS Huntsville, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Lauderdale County, AL

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this flash flood warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 168 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2003-02-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2003-02-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 151 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
532 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
151 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
204 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 KHUN 142352
FFWHUN
ALC077-150600-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
549 PM CST FRI FEB 14 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  LAUDERDALE COUNTY IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA

* UNTIL MIDNIGHT

* AT 549 PM CST...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY RAINFALL
  WAS OCCURRING OVER THE ENTIRE COUNTY OF LAUDERDALE. 

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED INCLUDE...
  FLORENCE...KILLEN...LEXINGTON AND UNDERWOOD-PETERSVILLE

EMERGENCY MANAGERS IN LAUDERDALE COUNTY REPORTED MANY ROADS CLOSED 
ACROSS THE COUNTY.  MORE HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED TONIGHT WHICH WILL 
CONTINUE THE FLOODING ACROSS LAUDERDALE COUNTY.

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.

LAT...LON 3499 8814 3480 8782 3483 8725 3500 8724

$$ 


SS

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Huntsville, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Feb 14, 1:34 PM CST, 4 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 14, 1:34 PM CST, 4 hours 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
130 PM FRI FEB 14 2003

THE MAIN ISSUE FOR THIS FORECAST CYCLE IS FLOOD POTENTIAL FOR
NORTHERN AL SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT...WITH SECONDARY CONCERNS
FOR ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

WE RECENTLY ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WATCH THAT WILL BE VALID FROM 12Z
SATURDAY UNTIL 12Z SUNDAY. THE HEAVIEST RAIN IS EXPECTED LATE
SATURDAY AND OVERNIGHT AS THE MOST DYNAMIC BAND OF RAIN MOVES EAST
ACROSS THE STATE. RAINFALL ON THE ORDER OF 1 TO 2 INCHES COULD FALL
DURING THAT PERIOD. THE STORM TOTAL PRECIP... INCLUDING WHAT FELL AS
OF 12Z FRIDAY MORNING...AND WHAT WILL FALL THROUGH 12Z SUNDAY...WILL
BE 2 TO 4 INCHES.

WE HAVE INCREASED THE HIGH TEMPERATURES TO 65 TO 70 FOR SATURDAY
BASED ON THE STRONG WARM AIR ADVECTION EVIDENT ALREADY FROM SOUTHERN
MS WESTWARD. FOR SUNDAY...CLOUDS AND PRECIP WILL BE REINTRODUCED FOR
MOST OF THE DAY.

BENIGN WEATHER IS EXPECTED MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...WITH SEASONABLE
TEMPERATURES AND ANOTHER RAIN CHANCE FRIDAY.

PRELIMINARY NUMBERS...

HSV 55/66 49/53 37  89+73
MSL 58/70 47/52 35  99+62

.HUN...FLOOD WATCH FOR NORTHERN ALABAMA SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT.

SCHAUB
Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 14, 1:15 PM CST, 4 hours 34 minutes before
ALZ001>010-016-151100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
115 PM CST FRI FEB 14 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA.

.DAY ONE...(TONIGHT)...

PERIODS OF RAIN WILL CONTINUE ACROSS ALL OF NORTH ALABAMA TONIGHT...
WITH SOME OF THE RAINFALL LOCALLY HEAVY.  ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS
OVERNIGHT WILL RANGE FROM AROUND ONE QUARTER OF AN INCH OVER CULLMAN
COUNTY...UPWARDS TO ONE INCH ALONG THE TENNESSEE/ALABAMA.  THIS
RAINFALL...ESPECIALLY THAT WHICH FALLS OVER SOUTHERN TENNESSEE...WILL
CAUSE RISES IN SOME NORTHERN ALABAMA STREAMS...PARTICULARLY THE PAINT
ROCK CREEK EAST OF HUNTSVILLE.  RIVER FLOODING IS NOT EXPECTED
TONIGHT.

A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT.  THUNDERSTORMS THAT
DO DEVELOP SHOULD NOT BECOME SEVERE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...(SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY)...

A DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM WILL
APPROACH NORTHERN ALABAMA DURING SATURDAY.  AN ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT
WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA SATURDAY EVENING.  RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE
EXPECTED TO INCREASE TOMORROW...WITH SOME FLOODING OF LOW LYING AND
FLOOD PRONE AREAS POSSIBLE.  ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS OF RAINFALL WILL
BRING TOTALS RANGING FROM AROUND TWO INCHES OVER CULLMAN COUNTY...TO
FOUR INCHES ALONG THE ALABAMA/TENNESSEE BORDER.

IN ADDITION TO THE RAINS...THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS POSSIBLE. SOME
OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE DURING SATURDAY AFTERNOON
AND EVENING.  THE MAIN THREAT AT THIS TIME INCLUDES HIGH WIND GUSTS
AND HAIL...ALONG WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS.

A DRYING TREND AND A CONTINUATION OF SEASONABLE WEATHER WILL RETURN
FOR MUCH OF NEXT WEEK.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS
NOT ANTICIPATED TONIGHT...BUT MAY BE NEEDED TOMORROW.

BOYD

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.