Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 2004

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS Huntsville, AL

February 5, 2004Franklin County, Alabama

NWS Huntsville, AL issued this flash flood warning at Feb 5, 2004, 1:42 PM CST for Franklin County, Alabama. It was in force for 4 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 5, 2004, 1:42 PM CST (19:42 UTC)
Expired
Feb 5, 2004, 5:30 PM CST
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Huntsville, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Franklin County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 170 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2004-02-05Temperature 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°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2004-02-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 742 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
908 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
742 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
1068 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 051947
FFWHUN
ALC059-052330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
142 PM CST THU FEB 5 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 530 PM CST

* AT 142 PM CST...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR CONTINUED TO INDICATE 
MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL OCCURRING OVER FRANKLIN COUNTY ALABAMA. 
RADAR AND RAIN GAGE REPORTS ESTIMATE RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF ONE AND A 
HALF TO TWO INCHES HAVE FALLEN DURING THE PAST SIX HOURS. AN 
ADDITIONAL INCH OF RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING 
HOURS. 

LOCAL OFFICIALS HAVE REPORTED WATER COVERING A FEW ROADS ACROSS THE 
COUNTY EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WILL CREATE A 
CONTINUED POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED FLASH FLOODING THROUGH THE 
AFTERNOON HOURS. 

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. AS LITTLE AS SIX INCHES OF WATER MAY CAUSE YOU TO LOSE
CONTROL OF YOUR VEHICLE. TWO FEET OF MOVING WATER CAN FLOAT MOST
VEHICLES...INCLUDING S U VS AND PICKUP TRUCKS. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN
RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED.

LAT...LON 3456 8755 3433 8757 3437 8805 3457 8800

$$
1 follow-up statement
000 
WGUS74 KHUN 052333
FFSHUN
ALC059-052345-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
531 PM CST THU FEB 5 2004

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR FRANKLIN COUNTY ALABAMA HAS EXPIRED...

AT 531 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THAT
THE RAINFALL WAS SHOWING SIGNS OF DIMINISHING ACROSS FRANKLIN COUNTY 
ALABAMA...AND THE FLOOD THREAT WAS DIMINISHING. SOME MINOR FLOODING 
MAY CONTINUE...BUT THE SERIOUS THREAT OF FLOODING IS ENDING. THUS 
THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS BEING ALLOWED TO EXPIRE.

MOST FLOODING DEATHS ARE VEHICLE RELATED. NEVER ATTEMPT TO DRIVE OR
WALK ACROSS AREAS THAT ARE COVERED BY FLOOD WATERS. THE WATER DEPTH
MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY. ABANDON VEHICLES
THAT STALL OR BEGIN TO FLOAT. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE THE
FLOOD.

LAT...LON 3441 8819 3432 8817 3430 8755 3455 8755
          3457 8813

$$ 

TROUTMAN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 5, 11:42 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHUNColbert, Lauderdale4 hr
Feb 5, 3:25 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningHUNColbert, Lauderdale4 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Alabama, 2004Every flash flood warning in 2004

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.