Alert archive / Alabama / Red Flag Warnings in 2012

Red Flag Warning 13, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 5, 201210 counties in Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this red flag warning at Mar 5, 2012, 12:07 PM CST for 10 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: Mar 5, 2012, 12:07 PM CST (18:07 UTC)
Expired: Mar 5, 2012, 6:00 PM CST
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL

Counties Bibb County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Clay County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Shelby County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 45 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:09 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, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 46 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: 2070 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 92 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 138 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.

822 
WWUS84 KBMX 051807
RFWBMX

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1207 PM CST MON MAR 5 2012

...BREEZY AND DRY CONDITIONS EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON...

.RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES WILL DROP TO 25 PERCENT OR BELOW FOR
AROUND 4 TO 6 HOURS THIS AFTERNOON. ADDITIONALLY...A FEW WIND
GUSTS MAY REACH 20 TO 25 MPH..

ALZ023-025-027>029-034>038-060000-
/O.NEW.KBMX.FW.W.0013.120305T1807Z-120306T0000Z/
TUSCALOOSA-SHELBY-TALLADEGA-CLAY-RANDOLPH-BIBB-CHILTON-COOSA-
TALLAPOOSA-CHAMBERS-
1207 PM CST MON MAR 5 2012

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS EVENING FOR CENTRAL 
PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ALABAMA...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS EVENING. THE AREA IS
ALONG AND SOUTH OF A SAMANTHA TO WEDOWEE AND ALONG AND NORTH OF A
CENTREVILLE TO LAFAYETTE LINE.

* WINDS...NORTHWEST 5 TO 15 MPH...WITH GUSTS TO 20 TO 25 MPH.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AS LOW AS 21 PERCENT.

* IMPACTS...THE COMBINATION OF A DRY AIR MASS AND WINDY 
  CONDITIONS WILL RESULT IN CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS. 
  OUTDOOR BURNING IS NOT RECOMMENDED.

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.

&&

$$

08/MNK

Nearby

Red Flag Warnings in Alabama, 2012 Every red flag 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.