Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 2011

Flash Flood Warning 56, NWS Birmingham, AL

September 5, 2011Blount County, Jefferson County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at Sep 5, 2011, 2:28 PM CDT for Blount County, Jefferson County, Alabama. It was in force for 4 hr. 7 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Sep 5, 2011, 2:28 PM CDT (19:28 UTC)
Expired: Sep 5, 2011, 6:30 PM CDT
In force: 4 hr
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Storm-based polygon
Flood severity: None

Counties Blount County, AL, Jefferson County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:31 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.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Sep 5, 3:51 PM CDT	FLASH FLOOD	Hayden, AL	EIGHT INCHES OF WATER WAS REPORTED OVER HWY 160 IN HAYDEN. THE BRIDGES ON ACTON BEND CIRCLE WERE ALSO REPORTED UNDERWATER.
Sep 5, 4:30 PM CDT	FLASH FLOOD	3 Wsw Fultondale, AL	TWO FEET OF WATER WAS REPORTED OVER 5 MILE CREEK ROAD AT 5 MILE CREEK. MOTORIST STRANDED.
Sep 5, 4:45 PM CDT	FLASH FLOOD	Tarrant, AL	SEVERAL ROADS FLOODED IN TARRANT AND BIRMINGHAM INCLUDING BLACK CREEK ROAD AND TALLAPOOSA STREET.
Sep 5, 5:20 PM CDT	FLASH FLOOD	Vestavia Hills, AL	HIGHWAY 31 FLOODED IN VESTAVIA HILLS.
Sep 5, 5:38 PM CDT	FLASH FLOOD	Birmingham, AL	INTERSTATE 65 AND INTERSTATE 20 RAMP, 8-10 INCHES OF FLOWING WATER COVERING THE ROADWAY.
Sep 5, 5:39 PM CDT	FLASH FLOOD	Tarrant, AL	HIGHWAY 79 IS UNDERWATER IN TARRANT CITY AS FIVE MILE CREEK IS FLOODING.
Sep 5, 5:57 PM CDT	FLASH FLOOD	Oneonta, AL	A GROCERY STORE IN ONEONTA HAS BECOME FLOODED. A VEHICLE WAS REPORTED TRAPPED IN FLOOD WATER ON GUINNS COVE ROAD.

Local storm reports filed while the alert was in force, from inside its polygon or its counties.

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 79 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: 371 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 471 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 238 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 277 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.4
Supercell composite: 2.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

080 
WGUS54 KBMX 051928
FFWBMX
ALC009-073-052330-
/O.NEW.KBMX.FF.W.0056.110905T1928Z-110905T2330Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
228 PM CDT MON SEP 5 2011

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  BLOUNT COUNTY IN ALABAMA...
  EASTERN JEFFERSON COUNTY IN ALABAMA...

* UNTIL 630 PM CDT

* AT 224 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDICATED AN AREA OF 
  HEAVY RAINFALL SPREADING ACROSS THE AREA. TWO TO THREE INCHES 
  OF RAIN HAVE ALREADY OCCURRED IN PORTIONS OF THE WARNED AREA
  DURING THE PAST THREE HOURS.  AN ADDITIONAL TWO TO THREE INCHES
  IS POSSIBLE DURING THE NEXT TWO HOURS.

* RUNOFF FROM THIS RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING TO OCCUR. 
  SOME LOCATIONS THAT WILL EXPERIENCE FLOODING INCLUDE... 
  BIRMINGHAM...BLOUNTSVILLE...FULTONDALE...GARDENDALE... 
  HOMEWOOD...IRONDALE...LEEDS...MOUNTAIN BROOK...ONEONTA...    
  TRUSSVILLE...VESTAVIA HILLS... AND BLOUNT SPRINGS. 
  
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS...HIGHWAYS AND UNDERPASSES. ADDITIONALLY...
COUNTRY ROADS AND FARMLANDS ALONG THE BANKS OF CREEKS...STREAMS AND
OTHER LOW LYING AREAS ARE SUBJECT TO FLOODING.

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.

&&

TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER...
CALL 1-800-856-0758.

LAT...LON 3410 8630 3394 8637 3394 8633 3389 8634
      3382 8643 3380 8658 3372 8652 3356 8655
      3352 8652 3347 8667 3338 8678 3378 8699
      3380 8696 3386 8697 3392 8692 3397 8678
      3408 8671 3413 8661 3425 8653 3427 8646

$$

41

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 5, 4:31 AM CDT	Wind Advisory	BMX	Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Calhoun and 33 more	26 hr
Sep 5, 5:34 AM CDT	Areal Flood Advisory	BMX	Montgomery	3 hr
Sep 5, 5:54 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Elmore, Montgomery	2 hr
Sep 5, 6:19 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Pickens	7 hr
Sep 5, 6:20 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Pickens	24 min
Sep 5, 6:44 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Lamar	4 hr
Sep 5, 6:57 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Lamar	7 hr
Sep 5, 7:16 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Fayette, Marion, Walker, Winston	8 hr
Sep 5, 8:27 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Sumter	4 hr
Sep 5, 9:01 AM CDT	Areal Flood Warning	BMX	Lamar	60 hr
Sep 5, 9:29 AM CDT	River Flood Warning	BMX	Greene, Hale, Marengo, Sumter	48 hr
Sep 5, 9:40 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Pickens	6 hr
Sep 5, 10:07 AM CDT	River Flood Warning	BMX	Jefferson, Tuscaloosa, Walker	72 hr
Sep 5, 10:07 AM CDT	River Flood Warning	BMX	Greene, Hale, Marengo, Sumter, Tuscaloosa	59 hr
Sep 5, 10:07 AM CDT	River Flood Warning	BMX	Greene, Hale, Marengo	5 days
Sep 5, 10:14 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Bullock, Pike	13 min
Sep 5, 10:16 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Greene	6 hr
Sep 5, 10:28 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Lamar	4 hr
Sep 5, 10:31 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lee, Macon, Russell	29 min
Sep 5, 10:48 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Bibb, Hale, Perry	27 min
Sep 5, 10:51 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lee	24 min
Sep 5, 11:11 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Chambers	34 min
Sep 5, 11:36 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	7 hr
Sep 5, 11:39 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Perry	36 min
Sep 5, 12:20 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Dallas	25 min
Sep 5, 12:21 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Bullock, Pike	24 min
Sep 5, 12:35 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Chilton, Dallas, Perry	25 min
Sep 5, 12:40 PM CDT	Areal Flood Warning	BMX	Pickens	3 hr
Sep 5, 1:00 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lee, Russell	30 min
Sep 5, 1:09 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Jefferson	6 hr
Sep 5, 1:27 PM CDT	Areal Flood Warning	BMX	Pickens	3 hr
Sep 5, 1:47 PM CDT	Areal Flood Warning	BMX	Pickens	3 hr
Sep 5, 2:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson	48 min
Sep 5, 3:01 PM CDT	Areal Flood Warning	BMX	Fayette, Marion, Walker, Winston	17 hr
Sep 5, 3:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lee, Macon	27 min
Sep 5, 3:26 PM CDT	River Flood Warning	BMX	Jefferson	15 hr
Sep 5, 4:06 PM CDT	Areal Flood Warning	BMX	Pickens	16 hr
Sep 5, 4:39 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning Emergency	BMX	Jefferson	5 hr
Sep 5, 4:52 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Bibb, Shelby	3 hr
Sep 5, 5:08 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	BMX	Blount, Jefferson	67 min
Sep 5, 5:12 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Etowah, St. Clair	6 hr
Sep 5, 6:12 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	BMX	Blount, Jefferson	78 min
Sep 5, 6:18 PM CDT	Areal Flood Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	6 hr
Sep 5, 6:38 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Blount	3 hr
Sep 5, 6:41 PM CDT	High Wind Warning	BMX	Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Etowah and 5 more	3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Alabama, 2011 Every flash flood warning in 2011

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; local storm reports from the same archive; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.