Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 2012

Flash Flood Warning 34, NWS Birmingham, AL

September 3, 2012Pickens County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at Sep 3, 2012, 9:18 PM CDT for Pickens County, Alabama. It was in force for 3 hr. 3 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 3, 2012, 9:18 PM CDT (02:18 UTC)
Expired
Sep 4, 2012, 12:30 AM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Storm-based polygon
Flood severity
None

County Pickens County, AL

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 69 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:18 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Sep 3, 10:00 PM CDTFLASH FLOODReform, ALFAMILY DOLLAR STORE EVACUATED DUE TO FLASH FLOODING.
Sep 3, 10:15 PM CDTFLASH FLOODGordo, AL7 TO 10 INCHES OF WATER COVERING HIGHWAY 82 NEAR GORDO.
Sep 3, 10:30 PM CDTFLASH FLOODGordo, ALTHE BRIDGES AT 1ST AVE E AND BEN ELMORE ROAD HAVE BEEN WASHED OUT DUE TO FLASH FLOODING.

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 00:00Z, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 112 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 00:00Z on 2012-09-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1069 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 2012-09-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 124 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1069 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-48 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
747 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
124 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
238 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
3.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

753 
WGUS54 KBMX 040218
FFWBMX
ALC107-040530-
/O.NEW.KBMX.FF.W.0034.120904T0218Z-120904T0530Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
918 PM CDT MON SEP 3 2012

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN PICKENS COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA...

* UNTIL 1230 AM CDT

* AT 916 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDICATED SLOW MOVING
  THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS THE WARNED AREA.
  RADAR HAS ESTIMATED RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES SINCE 6 PM
  CDT THIS EVENING.  ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES
  ARE LIKELY THROUGH 1030 PM CDT.

* RUNOFF FROM THIS EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING TO
  OCCUR. SOME LOCATIONS THAT WILL EXPERIENCE FLOODING INCLUDE...
  GORDO...REFORM AND BENEVOLA.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODING. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED ACT QUICKLY. DO
NOT ENTER THE WATER. TURN AROUND AND MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND TO
ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN
WATER BEGINS RISING.

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 OR TWEET YOUR REPORT USING HASHTAG ALWX

LAT...LON 3352 8804 3352 8785 3315 8784 3306 8805

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 3, 7:01 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXPike59 min
Sep 3, 7:06 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXPerry39 min
Sep 3, 7:20 PM CDTAreal Flood AdvisoryBMXJefferson115 min
Sep 3, 7:23 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXPickens52 min
Sep 3, 7:24 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXTuscaloosa51 min
Sep 3, 7:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens52 min
Sep 3, 8:01 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXHale44 min
Sep 3, 8:03 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXBarbour42 min
Sep 3, 8:09 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXWalker36 min
Sep 3, 8:24 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXGreene66 min
Sep 3, 8:30 PM CDTAreal Flood AdvisoryBMXGreene, Pickens3 hr
Sep 3, 8:36 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXPickens54 min
Sep 3, 8:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens31 min
Sep 3, 9:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene42 min
Sep 3, 9:15 PM CDTAreal Flood WarningBMXHale, Perry3 hr
Sep 3, 9:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens60 min
Sep 3, 9:49 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXGreene41 min
Sep 3, 9:51 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXCherokee39 min
Sep 3, 9:56 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXTuscaloosa3 hr
Sep 3, 10:40 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXGreene65 min
Sep 3, 10:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene, Sumter53 min
Sep 3, 10:58 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXGreene, Sumter11 min
Sep 3, 11:51 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXSumter39 min
Sep 4, 4:36 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXLowndes24 min
Sep 4, 6:08 AM CDTAreal Flood AdvisoryBMXAutauga, Lowndes3 hr
Sep 4, 6:19 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXDallas, Lowndes6 hr
Sep 4, 6:30 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXBibb, Hale, Perry, Tuscaloosa3 hr
Sep 4, 6:50 AM CDTAreal Flood AdvisoryBMXAutauga, Chilton, Dallas, Perry3 hr
Sep 4, 7:03 AM CDTAreal Flood AdvisoryBMXTuscaloosa3 hr
Sep 4, 7:22 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXAutauga, Dallas, Lowndes, Perry3 hr
Sep 4, 9:02 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXDallas, Perry3 hr
Sep 4, 9:28 AM CDTAreal Flood WarningBMXBibb, Chilton, Hale, Perry3 hr
Sep 4, 9:32 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXDallas43 min
Sep 4, 10:28 AM CDTFlash Flood Warning EmergencyBMXAutauga, Dallas, Lowndes, Perry3 hr
Sep 4, 11:57 AM CDTAreal Flood WarningBMXDallas3 hr
Sep 4, 12:27 PM CDTAreal Flood WarningBMXDallas, Lowndes3 hr
Sep 4, 3:14 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXGreene61 min
Sep 4, 3:51 PM CDTAreal Flood AdvisoryBMXGreene, Hale3 hr
Sep 4, 4:42 PM CDTAreal Flood AdvisoryBMXMarengo3 hr
Sep 4, 4:53 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXMarengo52 min
Sep 4, 5:41 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXMarengo49 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Alabama, 2012Every 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.