Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 17, NWS Mobile, AL

June 19, 2003Choctaw County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this flash flood warning at Jun 19, 2003, 8:14 PM CDT for Choctaw 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: Jun 19, 2003, 8:14 PM CDT (01:14 UTC)
Expired: Jun 19, 2003, 11:00 PM CDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Mobile, AL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Choctaw County, AL

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 153 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:18 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 00:00Z, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 180 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: 1786 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1173 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 43 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS54 KMOB 200116
FFWMOB
ALC023-200400-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
814 PM CDT THU JUN 19 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL CHOCTAW COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA

* UNTIL 1100 PM CDT

* AT 814 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED SEVERAL
  LARGE THUNDERSTORMS OVER CENTRAL CHOCTAW COUNTY THAT WERE PRODUCING
  VERY HEAVY RAIN.  THESE STORMS WERE NEARLY STATIONARY.  RADAR
  RAINFALL ESTIMATES INDICATE THAT THESE STORMS HAVE BEEN PRODUCING
  UP TO 5 INCHES OF RAIN PER HOUR...MAINLY ACROSS A WIDE SWATH FROM
  5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BUTLER TO 5 MILES EAST OF BUTLER.

AS THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NEARLY STATIONARY...THEY WILL PRODUCE A 
DANGEROUSLY LARGE AMOUNT OF RAINFALL AND WILL RESULT IN IMMINENT 
FLASH FLOODING OF CREEKS AND STREAMS AND OTHER POOR DRAINAGE 
SECTIONS IN THE AREA.

MOTORISTS MUST NOT CROSS ANY FLOODED ROADWAYS...AND RESIDENTS MUST  
AVOID ANY SWOLLEN CREEKS AND STREAMS.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS 
IMMINENT. MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NOT 
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR OTHER LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS 
THE ROADWAY. NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL 
ONE...ON FOOT. TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

LAT...LON 3214 8805 3208 8834 3193 8828 3198 8808

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS74 KMOB 200323
FFSMOB
ALC023-200415-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1022 PM CDT THU JUN 19 2003

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTY...

IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...CHOCTAW COUNTY.

AT 1020 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED THAT THE SHOWERS 
AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE MOVED SOUTH OUT OF CHOCTAW COUNTY.  PREVIOUS 
HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS CENTRAL CHOCTAW COUNTY IS EXPECTED TO HAVE 
MANAGED TO DRAIN OFF...AND THUS THE RISK OF FLASH FLOODING HAS 
GREATLY DIMINISHED.

ALTHOUGH THE RAIN HAS ENDED...SOME MINOR PONDING OF WATER ALONG FLOOD
PRONE AREAS COULD POSE A HAZARD FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS AND 
MOTORIST SHOULD CONTINUE TO DRIVE WITH CAUTION.

MOST DEATHS IN FLASH FLOODING OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO
CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY.
NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL ONE...ON FOOT.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 20, 10:55 AM CDT	Special Marine Warning	MOB		65 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.