Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 2013

Flash Flood Warning 17, NWS Huntsville, AL

July 4, 2013Limestone County, Alabama

NWS Huntsville, AL issued this flash flood warning at Jul 4, 2013, 4:43 PM CDT for Limestone County, 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: Jul 4, 2013, 4:43 PM CDT (21:43 UTC)
Expired: Jul 4, 2013, 10:45 PM CDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: NWS Huntsville, AL
Area: Storm-based polygon
Flood severity: None

County Limestone County, AL

The radar

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:44 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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 151 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: 290 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 459 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 87 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 101 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Huntsville, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Jul 4, 3:45 PM CDT, 58 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 4, 3:45 PM CDT, 58 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 4, 12:55 PM CDT, 3 hours 48 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1255 PM CDT THU JUL 4 2013

ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-051000-
LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN-
MARSHALL-JACKSON-DEKALB-CULLMAN-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN-
1255 PM CDT THU JUL 4 2013

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA AND PORTIONS
OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...

SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA
THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...WITH HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE AT TIMES.
A FEW STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING GUSTY WINDS UP TO 40 MPH.

GIVEN THE THREAT FOR REPEATED ROUNDS OF HEAVY RAINFALL...A FLOOD
WATCH IS NOW IN EFFECT FOR THE ENTIRE CENTRAL TENNESSEE VALLEY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...

PERIODS OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL PERSIST THROUGH
FRIDAY NIGHT. SOME OF THE STORMS MAY PRODUCE GUSTY WINDS OF 30 TO 40
MPH. BY FRIDAY EVENING...WIDESPREAD RAINFALL TOTALS ACROSS PORTIONS
OF THE TENNESSEE VALLEY WILL RANGE FROM 3 TO 4 INCHES...WITH LOCALLY
HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE. AS A RESULT...A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT
THROUGH 7 PM CDT FRIDAY EVENING FOR THE ENTIRE TENNESSEE VALLEY.

SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE INTO
SATURDAY BEFORE TAPERING OFF SUNDAY. A MORE TYPICAL SUMMER PATTERN
OF SCATTERED MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING THUNDERSTORMS IS THEN
EXPECTED MONDAY AND TUESDAY.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

FORMAL ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
PERSONNEL IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...TIMELY REPORTS
OF FLOODING AND GUSTY WINDS ARE APPRECIATED.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 4, 11:21 AM CDT, 5 hours 22 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1121 AM CDT THU JUL 4 2013

TNZ076-041630-
MOORE TN-
1121 AM CDT THU JUL 4 2013

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR CENTRAL MOORE COUNTY UNTIL 1130
AM CDT...

AT 1118 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR LYNCHBURG...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

WIND GUSTS UP TO 30 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.

LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
LYNCHBURG.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

STRONG GUSTY WINDS WILL BE CAPABLE OF KNOCKING DOWN SMALL TREE
LIMBS...ALONG WITH OTHER SMALL UNSECURED ITEMS. SEEK SAFE SHELTER
UNTIL THIS STORM HAS PASSSED.

&&

LAT...LON 3539 8628 3538 8625 3537 8627 3535 8624
      3534 8627 3532 8624 3528 8628 3521 8638
      3523 8639 3524 8642 3526 8641 3527 8643
      3535 8637 3536 8633 3538 8633 3540 8629
TIME...MOT...LOC 1618Z 220DEG 13KT 3524 8638

09

Local storm report, Jul 4, 4:03 PM CDT, 40 minutes before

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The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 4, 6:00 AM CDT	Flood Watch	HUN	Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale and 5 more	63 hr
Jul 4, 11:18 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HUN	Cullman, Lawrence, Limestone, Morgan	9 hr
Jul 4, 11:59 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HUN	Limestone, Madison	8 hr
Jul 4, 1:54 PM CDT	Areal Flood Warning	HUN	Madison	6 hr
Jul 4, 2:17 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HUN	Colbert, Lawrence, Limestone	6 hr
Jul 4, 5:19 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HUN	Colbert, Franklin	3 hr
Jul 4, 11:21 AM CDT	Special Weather Statement	HUN	Moore	9 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Alabama, 2013 Every flash flood warning in 2013

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.