Alert archive / Alabama / Flood Watches in 2020

Flood Watch 1, NWS Birmingham, AL

January 1, 202014 counties in Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flood watch at Jan 1, 2020, 3:35 AM CST for 14 counties in Alabama. It took effect at Jan 2, 2020, 12:00 PM CST. It was in force for 30 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jan 1, 2020, 3:35 AM CST (09:35 UTC)
In effect from
Jan 2, 2020, 12:00 PM CST
Expired
Jan 3, 2020, 6:00 PM CST
In force
30 hr
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Flood severity
None

Counties Blount County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Greene County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Marion County, AL, Pickens County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Winston County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 70 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:34 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

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 257 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 2020-01-01Temperature 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°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 2020-01-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -14 square meters per square second.1939587897117136156Sfc1 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
2129 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
67 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
26 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

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

NWS Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flood watch went out at Jan 1, 3:20 AM CST, 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 1, 3:20 AM CST, 15 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 1, 3:13 AM CST, 22 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Birmingham AL
313 AM CST Wed Jan 1 2020

ALZ011>015-017>050-021215-
Marion-Lamar-Fayette-Winston-Walker-Blount-Etowah-Calhoun-Cherokee-
Cleburne-Pickens-Tuscaloosa-Jefferson-Shelby-St. Clair-Talladega-
Clay-Randolph-Sumter-Greene-Hale-Perry-Bibb-Chilton-Coosa-Tallapoosa-
Chambers-Marengo-Dallas-Autauga-Lowndes-Elmore-Montgomery-Macon-
Bullock-Lee-Russell-Pike-Barbour-
313 AM CST Wed Jan 1 2020

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the counties served by the
National Weather Service office in Birmingham.

.DAY ONE...Today and Tonight.

No hazardous weather is expected at this time.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday.

An extended period of moderate to perhaps locally heavy rainfall is
expected Thursday afternoon through Friday afternoon along and
northwest of Interstate 59. Rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches could
result in flooding of low-lying and poor drainage areas.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Activation of storm spotters and emergency management may be needed
Thursday afternoon through Friday afternoon.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 1, 7:54 AM CSTRiver Flood WarningBMXGreene, Hale, Marengo, Pickens, Sumter21 days
Jan 1, 7:58 AM CSTRiver Flood WarningBMXGreene, Hale, Marengo, Sumter21 days
Jan 1, 8:03 AM CSTRiver Flood WarningBMXJefferson, Tuscaloosa, Walker50 hr
Jan 1, 8:20 AM CSTRiver Flood WarningBMXGreene, Hale, Marengo, Sumter, Tuscaloosa4 days
Jan 1, 8:23 AM CSTRiver Flood WarningBMXGreene, Hale, Marengo8 days
Jan 1, 8:26 AM CSTRiver Flood WarningBMXGreene, Hale, Marengo, Sumter9 days

Nearby

Flood Watches in Alabama, 2020Every flood watch in 2020

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.