


Flash Flood Guidance
Issued by NWS
Issued by NWS
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993 AWUS01 KWNH 120734 FFGMPD ALZ000-121100- Mesoscale Precipitation Discussion 0258 NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 333 AM EDT Mon May 12 2025 Areas affected...portions of eastern AL Concerning...Heavy rainfall...Flash flooding possible Valid 120730Z - 121100Z Summary...Continued hourly rainfall totals of up to 1-2" are likely to result in localized 2-3" accumulations over the next several hours. Isolated to scattered instances of flash flooding are possible. Discussion...Persistent boundary layer moisture flux convergence just to the north of the triple point of a vertically stacked, deep layer (sfc-200 mb) cut-off low/cyclone is maintaining a cluster of thunderstorms across east-central AL (with MRMS estimating localized hourly totals as high as 1-2" at times). The convection has become increasingly linearly organized from south-to-north within the deep layer mean flow, backbuilding towards the triple point where 20-30 kts of low-level (primarily near the 925 mb isobaric surface/295K isentropic surface) is providing locally enhanced convergence/lift. In the mid- to upper-levels (400-250 mb), broad diffluence (within the left-exit region of a ~100 kt jet streak) and a distinct potential vorticity max upstream should continue to promote large scale lift and convective longevity. The mesoscale environment is characterized by ML CAPE of 250-1000 J/kg (and increasing by ~200 J/kg over the past several hours), precipitable water values of 1.3-1.5 inches (between the 75th and 90th percentile, per BMX sounding climatology), and effective bulk shear of 20-40 kts. Given the favorable environment and recent observational trends, the expectation is that isolated to scattered 1-2" hourly totals will continue over the next several hours, and the potential exists for localized training/repeating of these heavy rainfall rates. Hi-res CAMs (recent hourly runs of the HRRR and RRFS) insist that this activity will shift abruptly towards the northeast over the next 2-3 hours (as the low-level flow is expected to veer over the next couple of hours, largely cutting off the locally enhanced moisture transport/convergence). Even so, this will likely result in 2-3" of isolated to scattered rainfall totals through 10-11z (falling to the north and east of the Montgomery and Birmingham metro areas where MRMS estimates 1-2" of rainfall has occurred over the past several hours). Antecedent soil conditions are quite wet, with accompanying 3-hr Flash Flood Guidance (FFGs) generally range from 1.5-2.5" (as NASA SPoRT-LIS 0-1m soil moisture remains well above the 90th percentile across the region). Isolated to scattered instances of flash flooding are possible. Churchill ...Please see www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov for graphic product... ATTN...WFO...BMX...HUN... ATTN...RFC...LMRFC...SERFC...NWC... LAT...LON 34278653 34188564 33388533 32158541 32018580 32278604 32718625 33268647 33758657