Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 2012

Flash Flood Warning 26, NWS Birmingham, AL

August 2, 2012Sumter County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at Aug 2, 2012, 9:58 AM CDT for Sumter County, Alabama. It was in force for 3 hr. 1 report 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: Aug 2, 2012, 9:58 AM CDT (14:58 UTC)
Expired: Aug 2, 2012, 1:00 PM CDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Storm-based polygon
Flood severity: None

County Sumter County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 139 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:00 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
Aug 2, 10:30 AM CDT	FLASH FLOOD	1 S Livingston, AL	UNIVERSITY OF WEST ALABAMA OFFICIAL REPORTED THREE TO FOUR STREETS ON CAMPUS FLOODED WITH 12 TO 18 INCHES OF FLOWING WATER. ADDITIONALLY THE ENTIRE FOOTBALL FIELD WAS COVERED WITH ABOUT TWO FEET OF WATER.

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, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 138 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: 1483 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -77 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1379 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 19 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.

292 
WGUS54 KBMX 021458
FFWBMX
ALC119-021800-
/O.NEW.KBMX.FF.W.0026.120802T1458Z-120802T1800Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
958 AM CDT THU AUG 2 2012

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL SUMTER COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA...

* UNTIL 100 PM CDT

* AT 954 AM CDT...SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL 
ACROSS THE WARNED AREA ARE CAUSING FLOODING ISSUES IN CENTRAL SUMTER 
COUNTY.  EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL HAVE INDICATED THAT SOME 
ROADS IN AND AROUND LIVINGSTON COULD BECOME IMPASSIBLE OVER THE NEXT 
HOUR.  ANOTHER 1-2 INCHES OF RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE.  IF YOU ENCOUNTER 
AREAS OF FLOODING ACROSS ROADWAYS...TURN AROUND AND DON'T DROWN.  
NOTIFY YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT...THEN CONTACT THE NATIONAL 
WEATHER SERVICE.

* RUNOFF FROM THIS EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING TO
  OCCUR. SOME LOCATIONS THAT WILL EXPERIENCE FLOODING INCLUDE...
  CUBA...LIVINGSTON...YORK...BLUFFPORT...BOYD...COATOPA...DUG HILL...
  EMELLE...EPES AND THE UNIVERSITY OF WEST ALABAMA.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

EXTREMELY DANGEROUS FLOODING IS OCCURRING. TRAVEL IS DISCOURAGED. DO 
NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE UNTIL WEATHER AND TRAVEL CONDITIONS IMPROVE 
LATER. CONDITIONS ARE LIFE THREATENING.

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS...URBAN AREAS...HIGHWAYS...STREETS AND UNDERPASSES
AS WELL AS OTHER DRAINAGE AREAS AND LOW LYING SPOTS.

&&

TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER...WHICH INCLUDES FLOODING...CALL 
1-800-856-0758.

LAT...LON 3278 8836 3279 8806 3277 8808 3278 8811
      3271 8808 3269 8811 3269 8804 3264 8806
      3264 8808 3259 8806 3260 8799 3245 8800
      3243 8804 3243 8841

$$

27

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 1, 7:13 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	BMX	Chambers	47 min
Aug 2, 8:47 AM CDT	Areal Flood Advisory	BMX	Greene, Hale, Marengo, Perry, Sumter	3 hr
Aug 2, 11:06 AM CDT	Special Weather Statement	BMX	Lowndes	39 min
Aug 2, 12:58 PM CDT	Areal Flood Warning	BMX	Sumter	3 hr
Aug 2, 12:58 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	BMX	Coosa	47 min
Aug 2, 2:14 PM CDT	Areal Flood Advisory	BMX	Bullock, Macon, Montgomery	3 hr
Aug 2, 3:19 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	BMX	Russell	41 min
Aug 2, 3:26 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	BMX	Marion	49 min
Aug 2, 3:31 PM CDT	Areal Flood Advisory	BMX	Marion, Winston	3 hr
Aug 2, 3:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marion	42 min
Aug 2, 4:30 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	BMX	Lamar	45 min
Aug 2, 4:42 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Marion, Winston	80 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Alabama, 2012 Every flash flood warning in 2012

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.