Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Watches in 2009

Flash Flood Watch 7, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 3, 200912 counties in Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood watch at May 3, 2009, 5:08 AM CDT for 12 counties in Alabama. It took effect at May 3, 2009, 7:00 AM CDT. It was in force for 14 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 3, 2009, 5:08 AM CDT (10:08 UTC)
In effect from: May 3, 2009, 7:00 AM CDT
Expired: May 3, 2009, 9:06 PM CDT
In force: 14 hr
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Flood severity: None

Counties Bibb County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Marion County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Winston County, AL

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:11 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, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 86 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: 495 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -23 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1219 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 83 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 113 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 3.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

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

NWS Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood watch went out at May 3, 3:37 AM CDT, 1 hour 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 3, 3:37 AM CDT, 1 hour 31 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, May 3, 1:04 AM CDT, 4 hours 4 minutes before

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In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 2, 11:14 PM CDT, 5 hours 54 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 2, 11:35 PM CDT, 5 hours 33 minutes before

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The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 2, 7:02 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Walker	43 min
May 2, 7:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Blount	24 min
May 2, 7:34 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Blount, Jefferson, Walker	56 min
May 2, 7:56 PM CDT	Areal Flood Advisory	BMX	Lamar, Marion	4 hr
May 2, 7:56 PM CDT	Flash Flood Watch	BMX	Fayette, Lamar, Marion, Pickens, Tuscaloosa, Walker and 1 more	9 hr
May 2, 8:19 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Blount, Jefferson, St. Clair, Walker	41 min
May 3, 8:37 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Greene, Pickens, Sumter	53 min
May 3, 11:28 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Bibb, Greene, Hale, Tuscaloosa	15 min
May 3, 12:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marengo, Sumter	61 min
May 3, 12:50 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Greene, Hale, Marengo, Sumter	55 min
May 3, 12:54 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Bibb, Jefferson, Shelby, Tuscaloosa	51 min
May 3, 12:58 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Greene, Hale, Sumter	62 min
May 3, 1:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Bibb, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Marengo, Perry and 2 more	57 min
May 3, 1:23 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Jefferson, Shelby	67 min
May 3, 1:33 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Bibb, Chilton, Dallas, Hale, Perry	42 min
May 3, 1:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Bibb, Jefferson, Shelby, Tuscaloosa	50 min
May 3, 1:40 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Bibb, Greene, Hale, Perry, Tuscaloosa	50 min
May 3, 1:42 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Bibb, Jefferson, Shelby, Tuscaloosa	2 hr
May 3, 1:46 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Jefferson, Shelby	44 min
May 3, 1:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Autauga, Bibb, Chilton, Coosa, Dallas, Elmore and 6 more	65 min
May 3, 2:02 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Jefferson, St. Clair, Shelby, Talladega	58 min
May 3, 2:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Autauga, Bibb, Bullock, Chilton, Clay, Coosa and 7 more	58 min
May 3, 2:48 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, St. Clair, Talladega	57 min
May 3, 3:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Barbour, Bullock, Chambers, Coosa, Elmore, Lee and 5 more	73 min
May 3, 3:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Calhoun, Chambers, Clay, Cleburne, Coosa, Randolph and 3 more	55 min
May 3, 3:21 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne	54 min
May 3, 3:25 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Calhoun, Clay, Cleburne, Talladega	18 min
May 3, 4:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chambers, Cleburne, Randolph	34 min
May 3, 4:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chambers, Lee, Russell	34 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Watches in Alabama, 2009 Every flash flood watch in 2009

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.