Alert archive / Alabama / Red Flag Warnings in 2015

Red Flag Warning 8, NWS Mobile, AL

February 20, 20157 counties in Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this red flag warning at Feb 20, 2015, 6:11 AM CST for 7 counties in Alabama. It took effect at Feb 20, 2015, 9:00 AM CST. It was in force for 3 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
Feb 20, 2015, 6:11 AM CST (12:11 UTC)
In effect from
Feb 20, 2015, 9:00 AM CST
Expired
Feb 20, 2015, 11:59 AM CST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL

Counties Butler County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Wilcox County, AL

The radar

The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 137 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:13 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, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 182 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 12:00Z on 2015-02-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 2015-02-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 66 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2448 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
74 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
66 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
204 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.

064 
WWUS84 KMOB 201211
RFWMOB

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
611 AM CST FRI FEB 20 2015

...A RED FLAG WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL
ALABAMA AND OKALOOSA COUNTY IN NORTHWEST FLORIDA DUE TO CRITICAL LOW 
RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES ALONG WITH ERC VALUES ABOVE 37 IN OKALOOSA
COUNTY FLORIDA... 

.A DRY COOL AIRMASS WILL CONTINUE OVER THE CENTRAL GULF COAST REGION 
THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON THEN SHIFTS EASTWARD TONIGHT THROUGH EARLY
NEXT WEEK. CRITICALLY LOW AFTERNOON RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES WILL BE
LIKELY FOR SOME AREAS IN SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA AND NORTHWEST FLORIDA
TODAY FOLLOWED BY MUCH HIGH HUMIDITY VALUES FOR ALL AREA THIS WEEKEND
AND NEXT WEEK. GUSTY SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL ALSO BE LIKELY MOST OF THE
DAY ON SATURDAY.

ALZ053-201315-
/O.CAN.KMOB.FW.A.0005.150220T1500Z-150220T2300Z/
CLARKE-
611 AM CST FRI FEB 20 2015

...FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS CANCELLED FOR CLARK COUNTY ALABAMA DUE
TO HIGHER RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES THAN EARLIER EXPECTED...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS CANCELLED THE FIRE
WEATHER WATCH. 

HUMIDITY VALUES NOW APPEAR TO BE ABOVE CRITICAL VALUES TODAY. 

$$

ALZ054>060-210000-
/O.UPG.KMOB.FW.A.0005.150220T1500Z-150220T2300Z/
/O.NEW.KMOB.FW.W.0008.150220T1500Z-150221T0000Z/
WILCOX-MONROE-CONECUH-BUTLER-CRENSHAW-ESCAMBIA-COVINGTON-
611 AM CST FRI FEB 20 2015

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO 6 PM CST
THIS EVENING FOR PART OF SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA DUE TO CRITICALLY
LOW RELATIVE HUMIDTY VALUES FOR 4 CONSECUTIVE HOURS OR MORE...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO 6 PM CST
THIS EVENING. THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. 

* AFFECTED AREA...FIRE WEATHER ZONES 054...055...056...057... 
  058...059 AND 060. 

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY: 17 TO 23 PERCENT.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS
ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY.
 A COMBINATION OF LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND DRY FUELS CAN
CONTRIBUTE TO EXTREME FIRE BEHAVIOR.

&&

$$

FLZ005-006-210000-
/O.NEW.KMOB.FW.W.0008.150220T1500Z-150221T0000Z/
INLAND OKALOOSA-COASTAL OKALOOSA-
611 AM CST FRI FEB 20 2015

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO 6 PM CST
THIS EVENING FOR OKALOOSA COUNTY FLORIDA DUE TO CRICALLY LOW 
RELATIVE HUMIDTY VALUES COMBIINED WITH ERC VALUES ABOVE 37...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO 6 PM CST
THIS EVENING. 

* AFFECTED AREA...FIRE WEATHER ZONES 005 AND 006. 

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY: LOWERING TO 22 PERCENT BY LATE MORNING OR EARLY
  AFTERNOON.

* WINDS: SOUTHEAST 4 TO 8 MPH.

* DISPERSIONS: 37 BY LATE MORNING OR EARLY AFTERNOON. 

* ERC: 38 

* IMPACTS: ANY FIRES THAT DEVELOP WILL LIKELY SPREAD RAPIDLY. 
  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 LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND DRY FUELS CAN
CONTRIBUTE TO EXTREME FIRE BEHAVIOR.

&&

$$
1 follow-up statement
486 
WWUS84 KMOB 201759
RFWMOB

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1159 AM CST FRI FEB 20 2015

...THE RED FLAG WARNING FOR PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA AND
OKALOOSA COUNTY FLORIDA IS NOW CANCELLED.

.THE COLD...DRY ARCTIC AIRMASS OVERLYING THE AREA HAS SHIFTED EAST
ALLOWING A SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW TO DEVELOP WHICH WILL KEEP RELATIVE
HUMIDITIES ABOVE CRITICAL LEVELS. AS WELL WINDS HAVE DECREASED CONSIDERABLY
OVER THE PAST COUPLE HOURS. WINDS WILL AGAIN INCREASE LATER IN THE
DAY BUT AT THE SAME TIME RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WILL CLIMB WELL ABOVE
CRITICAL LEVELS.

ALZ054>060-FLZ005-006-201900-
/O.CAN.KMOB.FW.W.0008.000000T0000Z-150221T0000Z/
WILCOX-MONROE-CONECUH-BUTLER-CRENSHAW-ESCAMBIA-COVINGTON-
INLAND OKALOOSA-COASTAL OKALOOSA-
1159 AM CST FRI FEB 20 2015

...RED FLAG WARNING IS CANCELLED FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA
 AND OKALOOSA COUNTY IN FLORIDA FOR FIRE WEATHER
 ZONES 005...006...054...055...056...057...058...059 AND 060...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS CANCELLED THE RED FLAG
WARNING. 

RELATIVE HUMIDITIES ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN ABOVE CRITICAL LEVELS.

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 20, 8:44 AM CSTRip Current StatementMOB69 hr
Feb 20, 2:48 PM CSTWind AdvisoryMOB28 hr
Feb 20, 2:59 PM CSTHigh Surf AdvisoryMOB39 hr
Feb 20, 3:55 AM CSTSmall Craft AdvisoryMOB44 hr
Feb 20, 7:36 AM CSTFreezing Rain AdvisoryMOBButler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Monroe, Washington and 1 more99 min

Nearby

Red Flag Warnings in Alabama, 2015Red Flag Warnings in Florida, 2015Every red flag warning in 2015

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.