Alert archive / Alabama / Red Flag Warnings in 2011

Red Flag Warning 7, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 6, 201124 counties in Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this red flag warning at Apr 6, 2011, 12:06 PM CDT for 24 counties in 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 counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Apr 6, 2011, 12:06 PM CDT (17:06 UTC)
Expired: Apr 6, 2011, 6:00 PM CDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL

All 24 counties

Barbour County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Blount County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lee County, AL, Macon County, AL, Pike County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Russell County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Winston County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 63 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:12 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 12:00Z, 5.1 hours before the alert went out and 64 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 2508 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 58 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 112 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.

877 
WWUS84 KBMX 061706
RFWBMX

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1206 PM CDT WED APR 6 2011

...HIGH FIRE DANGER ALONG AND EAST OF A LINE FROM HALEYVILLE...TO
CLANTON...TO ALEXANDER CITY TO TROY...

ALZ014-015-017>021-024>029-034>038-045>050-062300-
/O.NEW.KBMX.FW.W.0007.110406T1706Z-110406T2300Z/
WINSTON-WALKER-BLOUNT-ETOWAH-CALHOUN-CHEROKEE-CLEBURNE-JEFFERSON-
SHELBY-ST. CLAIR-TALLADEGA-CLAY-RANDOLPH-BIBB-CHILTON-COOSA-
TALLAPOOSA-CHAMBERS-MACON-BULLOCK-LEE-RUSSELL-PIKE-BARBOUR-
1206 PM CDT WED APR 6 2011

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CDT THIS EVENING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CDT THIS EVENING. 

SURFACE RIDGING ALONG THE ATLANTIC COAST WILL LEAD TO DRY CONDITIONS
ACROSS EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA. DRIER AIR ALOFT WILL MIX DOWN TO THE SURFACE
BRINGING DEW POINTS DOWN INTO THE MID AND UPPER 20S. RH VALUES
WILL FALL BELOW 25 PERCENT FOR SEVERAL HOURS THIS AFTERNOON. IT IS
QUESTIONABLE AS TO WHETHER DEW POINTS WILL DROP AS LOW IN THE WEST
DUE TO STRONGER SOUTHERLY FLOW AT THE SURFACE.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS
ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF
STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND WARM TEMPERATURES WILL
CREATE EXPLOSIVE FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL. 

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE FIRE CONDITIONS...PLEASE
CONTACT THE ALABAMA FORESTRY COMMISSION AT
WWW.FORESTRY.ALABAMA.GOV.

&&

$$

Nearby

Red Flag Warnings in Alabama, 2011 Every red flag 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.