Alert archive / Alabama / Areal Flood Advisories in 2021

Areal Flood Advisory 36, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 4, 20215 counties in Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this areal flood advisory at May 4, 2021, 2:54 PM CDT for 5 counties in Alabama. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 4, 2021, 2:54 PM CDT (19:54 UTC)
Expired
May 4, 2021, 6:00 PM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Storm-based polygon

Counties Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Shelby County, AL, Talladega County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 81 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:53 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 forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this areal flood advisory 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 areal flood advisory went out at May 4, 1:52 PM CDT, 1 hour 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 4, 1:52 PM CDT, 1 hour 2 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Birmingham AL
152 PM CDT Tue May 4 2021

.UPDATE...
Afternoon Update.

&&

.SHORT TERM...
/Updated at 0149 PM CDT Tue May 04 2021/

Through this Evening.

Strong to severe thunderstorms continue along the I-20 corridor
producing gusty winds, torrential rainfall, and abundant lightning.
These storms are being fueled by a very warm and moist southern
stream which has allowed temperatures to rise above previous
forecast highs. Evidence of backbuilding and training of storms
will lead to a continued threat for flash flooding in the
Birmingham metro area and along the I-59 corridor where hourly
rain rates are as high as 3 to 4 inches per hour. There are
several sites south of I-20 which have measured air temperatures
in the lower 90s with dewpoints in the lower 70s. This is prime
evidence of strong surface-based instability of 3500-4000 J/kg
per RAP mesoanalysis. This area has also seen little coverage of
rainfall thus far today which indicates a thermodynamic parameter
space primed for strong convective initiation.

A broad area of thunderstorms is currently tracking across the Lower
MS River supported by the right entrance region of the upper-level
jet and associated surface front over western Louisiana. As the low-
level jet strengthens to around 50-60 kts late this afternoon &
evening, these storms will likely become better congealed into an
organized convective line as they enter western AL with the
potential for strong, damaging winds increasing with time. The
expected QLCS will reach our western counties as early as 4 PM and
exit southeast of the I-85 corridor around 10 PM posing the risk
of a potentially widespread damaging wind event across Central AL,
especially in the southwest quarter of the forecast area where a
Moderate Risk of severe storms has been defined. Due to the robust
nature of the updrafts, large hail may accompany stronger cells
as well as the potential for a few tornadoes embedded within the
line. The addition of heavy rainfall accumulations upwards of 1 to
2 inches will produce a continued concern for Flash Flooding in
areas that have already received amounts of 2-3 inches, especially
near and north of the I-20 corridor.

Overnight through Tomorrow.

The heavier activity will outrun the cold front and should exit the
area shortly before midnight as the front begins to enter
northwestern AL. Highest rain chances will be south of I-85 tomorrow
morning and will decrease throughout the day as the trough ejects
towards the east coast. During the afternoon, expect diminishing
cloud cover with a mild, post-frontal airmass which will accompany
the northwesterly flow. Highs will be in the lower 70s northwest to
lower 80s southeast.

86

.LONG TERM...
/Updated at 0341 AM CDT Tue May 04 2021/

Wednesday night through Monday.

The frontal boundary should be exiting Central AL by Wednesday
evening, ending any significant rain chances for our area. Cooler
and drier northerly flow will build in as the upper level trough
axis swings through our region during the day on Thursday. This will
lead to high temperatures running a few degrees below normal for
both Thursday and Friday. Ridging builds in across the Gulf States
Friday into Saturday as the upper level flow transitions to quasi-
zonal regime. This will lead to continued rain-free through the
early part of the weekend. High temperatures do being to increase by
Saturday as surface high slides to our east, shifting our winds out
of the south, which will bring in the warmer air mass from the Gulf.

A surface low develops across the Central Plains on Saturday, but
quickly moves eastward under the generally zonal flow. Because the
zonal flow persist, the frontal boundary associated with this low
has a hard time pushing south. Mode guidance suggests the boundary
will slow or stall across the Ohio Valley and remain well to our
north through early next week. However, broader scale ascent due to
isentropic lift in the warm/moist airmass to the south of the
boundary could lead to scattered showers and thunderstorms for
portions of Central AL Sunday and Monday. There's still a good
amount of uncertainty on where this precip lines up, so for now,
I'll keep 30-40% chance of rain across the northern half of Central
AL on Sunday, becoming 40-50% by Monday.

25/Owen

&&

.AVIATION...
18Z TAF Discussion.

Scattered to numerous thunderstorms will produce flight criteria
impacts throughout this afternoon. A cluster of thunderstorms near
and north of I-20 will move across our northern terminals for most
of the afternoon. A second round of widespread thunderstorms
currently moving into Mississippi will track towards west Central
AL by mid afternoon. These storms will reach TCL around 20Z then
continue east and southeast before reaching MGM and TOI around
00-03Z. Rain will generally end north to south overnight as a cold
front passes through the area, but low ceilings are expected
behind the front. Surface winds will become northwesterly by early
tomorrow morning around 5-10 kts with clouds decreasing and
ceilings slowly rising during the late morning.

Note: AMD NOT SKED until further notice at KASN due to ongoing
equipment issues.

86

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...

Widespread rain and thunderstorms are expected today as a cold
front moves through the area. Winds will increase from the south
and become southwesterly today. Strong, gusty winds can be
anticipated along and ahead of the line of thunderstorms that move
through today. Drier air arrives for Thursday through Saturday.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Gadsden     60  75  49  74  47 /  80  10   0   0   0
Anniston    63  77  51  75  49 /  80  10   0   0   0
Birmingham  63  76  52  76  51 /  80  10   0   0   0
Tuscaloosa  61  77  53  77  51 /  60   0   0   0   0
Calera      63  76  54  75  51 /  80  10   0   0   0
Auburn      65  78  56  76  52 /  90  50   0   0   0
Montgomery  68  81  57  79  54 /  90  50   0   0   0
Troy        67  81  58  79  54 /  90  60   0   0   0

&&

.BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES/...
None.

&&
Hazardous weather outlook, May 4, 3:46 AM CDT, 11 hours 8 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Birmingham AL
346 AM CDT Tue May 4 2021

ALZ011>015-017>050-051200-
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-
346 AM CDT Tue May 4 2021

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

.DAY ONE...Outlook through Tonight.

Strong to severe thunderstorms are possible today across all of
Central Alabama. Threats include damaging winds up to 70 mph, large
hail and a few brief tornadoes.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday.

No hazardous weather is expected at this time.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Activation of storm spotters and emergency management may be
needed today.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 4, 1:52 PM CDT, 1 hour 2 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
152 PM CDT TUE MAY 4 2021

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0151 PM     FLASH FLOOD      1 NE UAB CAMPUS         33.51N 86.80W
05/04/2021                   JEFFERSON          AL   PUBLIC

            FLASH FLOODING OCCURRING ALONG THE STREET IN
            FRONT OF NEWKS EATERY - DOWNTOWN BIRMINGHAM.

&&

CBD
Local storm report, May 4, 1:54 PM CDT, 1 hour before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Local storm report, May 4, 1:59 PM CDT, 55 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Local storm report, May 4, 2:08 PM CDT, 46 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Local storm report, May 4, 2:10 PM CDT, 44 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Local storm report, May 4, 2:31 PM CDT, 23 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 7:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXElmore, Montgomery43 min
May 3, 7:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Chilton, Perry32 min
May 3, 7:25 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXAutauga, Elmore, Macon, Montgomery5 hr
May 3, 7:29 PM CDTAreal Flood AdvisoryBMXChambers, Lee, Macon, Tallapoosa2 hr
May 3, 7:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXElmore, Macon, Montgomery47 min
May 3, 7:46 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXChilton44 min
May 3, 8:30 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXLee, Macon45 min
May 3, 8:36 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXChilton39 min
May 3, 8:51 PM CDTAreal Flood AdvisoryBMXBibb, Chilton, Perry3 hr
May 3, 8:59 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXRussell46 min
May 3, 9:31 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXShelby59 min
May 4, 7:27 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXMarion48 min
May 4, 7:57 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXLamar, Marion48 min
May 4, 9:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWinston38 min
May 4, 10:26 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount23 min
May 4, 10:59 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXWalker31 min
May 4, 11:00 AM CDTAreal Flood AdvisoryBMXFayette, Lamar, Walker3 hr
May 4, 11:06 AM CDTAreal Flood AdvisoryBMXBlount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Etowah, St. Clair3 hr
May 4, 11:12 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXFayette, Tuscaloosa21 min
May 4, 11:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson, Walker50 min
May 4, 11:45 AM CDTAreal Flood AdvisoryBMXJefferson2 hr
May 4, 11:49 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount, Jefferson, St. Clair26 min
May 4, 12:03 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXBlount, Etowah, St. Clair117 min
May 4, 12:10 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXJefferson7 hr
May 4, 12:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, St. Clair, Talladega46 min
May 4, 12:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson, St. Clair, Shelby28 min
May 4, 12:35 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXCalhoun, Etowah, St. Clair, Talladega3 hr
May 4, 12:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, Talladega64 min
May 4, 1:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson, Shelby30 min
May 4, 1:25 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCleburne24 min
May 4, 1:39 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXJefferson, St. Clair, Shelby5 hr
May 4, 2:07 PM CDTAreal Flood WarningBMXBlount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Etowah, St. Clair6 hr
May 4, 3:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter55 min
May 4, 4:01 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXShelby, Talladega3 hr
May 4, 4:05 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXBibb, Tuscaloosa3 hr
May 4, 4:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa29 min
May 4, 4:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene55 min
May 4, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale, Marengo63 min
May 4, 4:45 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXWalker, Winston30 min
May 4, 5:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Chilton, Dallas, Perry75 min
May 4, 5:17 PM CDTFlash Flood Warning EmergencyCatastrophic damage threatBMXJefferson, Shelby3 hr
May 4, 5:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga, Chilton, Lowndes76 min
May 4, 5:30 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXChilton, Perry30 min
May 4, 5:38 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXShelby12 min
May 4, 5:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa50 min
May 4, 5:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXElmore61 min
May 4, 6:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMontgomery68 min
May 4, 6:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa56 min
May 4, 6:24 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXElmore, Montgomery13 min
May 4, 6:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBullock, Macon, Pike83 min
May 4, 6:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers, Lee61 min
May 4, 6:48 PM CDTRiver Flood WarningBMXBibb, Jefferson, Shelby22 hr

Nearby

Areal Flood Advisories in Alabama, 2021Every areal flood advisory in 2021

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.