Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1992

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 20, 1992Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 20, 1992, 11:12 AM CDT for Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 48 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Apr 20, 1992, 11:12 AM CDT (16:12 UTC)
Expired: Apr 20, 1992, 12:00 PM CDT
In force: 48 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Tuscaloosa County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Centreville/Bibb, AL (KCKL), launched 12:00Z, 4.2 hours before the alert went out and 53 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: 11 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -209 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 650 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 185 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 259 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 201612
TORBHM
ALC125-201700-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1112 AM CDT MON APR 20 1992
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL NOON CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...TUSCALOOSA COUNTY
 
AT 1110 AM CDT RADAR SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO OVER TUSCALOOSA COUNTY.
THE TORNADO APPEARED TO BE NEAR THE CITY OF TUSCALOOSA AND WAS MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
 
 
&

What forecasters said that day

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

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 20, 8:42 AM CDT, 2 hours 30 minutes before

ALZ004>0009-013-201430-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
840 AM CDT MON APR 20 1992

  ...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 158 IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OF
     WEST CENTRAL AND SOU

Special weather statement, Apr 20, 9:22 AM CDT, 1 hour 50 minutes before

ALZ004>0009-013-201515-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
920 AM CDT MON APR 20 1992

  ...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 158 IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OF
     WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA UNTIL 200 PM CDT...

A WARM UNSTABLE AIRMASS WITH AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT ARE PROVIDING
THE RIGHT INGREDIENTS FOR STRONG THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP OVER ALABAMA
THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ALREADY PRODUCED
WIND DAMAGE OVER PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI EARLIER THIS
MORNING.  MORE STRONG...POSSIBLY SEVERE...THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED
TO MOVE INTO WEST AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA THIS MORNING.

AT 920 AM THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING CLOSER TO THE ALABAMA
BORDER AND WERE MOVING THROUGH THE MERIDIAN MS AREA.  IT APPEARS THAT
THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE FIRST INTO LAMAR...PICKENS...
SUMTER AND CHOCTAW COUNTIES BETWEEN 930 AND 1030 AM. THESE THUNDERSTORMS
WILL PRODUCE STRONG...POSSIBLY DAMAGING WINDS...HEAVY RAIN...
LIGHTNING...AND POSSIBLY HAIL.  MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO...
OR COMMERCIAL RADIO OR TELEVISION FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS.
BE READY TO MOVE TO A SAFE PLACE IF THREATENING WEATHER IS
SIGHTED OR A WARNING IS ISSUED.

Special weather statement, Apr 20, 10:10 AM CDT, 1 hour 2 minutes before

ALZ010-011-012-014-017-018-201600-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
1000AM CDT MON APR 20 1992

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 158 REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 2PM CDT FOR PARTS
OF ALABAMA...

WEATHER RADAR AT MONTGOMERY SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO
WEST ALABAMA AT 10AM CDT. THE STORMS WERE MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST
AT ABOUT 40 MPH. AT THE PRESENT RATE OF MOVEMENT STRONG STORMS WILL
BE ENTERING DALLAS AND WILCOX COUNTIES AROUND 11 TO 1130AM CDT.

PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREAS SHOULD REMAIN ON THE ALERT. WATCHES
MAY BE REQUIRED FOR OTHER SECTIONS OF SOUTH ALABAMA DURING THE DAY
AS THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER IS HIGH. STAY TUNED TO LOCAL
RADIO AND TV OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION.

Local storm report, Apr 20, 11:09 AM CDT, 3 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1108 AM CDT MON APR 20 1992

1010 AM CDT...TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN IN SOUTHWESTERN PICKENS COUNTY.
              EXACT LOCATION NOT KNOWN.
1105 AM CDT...POWER LINES WERE BLOWN DOWN IN THE SOUTHERN PART
              OF THE CITY OF TUSCALOOSA.  POWER OUTAGES OCCURRED
              AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 20, 10:16 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Greene	44 min
Apr 20, 10:19 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Pickens	41 min
Apr 20, 10:23 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marengo	67 min
Apr 20, 10:43 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Hale, Tuscaloosa	62 min
Apr 20, 11:15 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Fayette	60 min
Apr 20, 11:29 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson, Walker	61 min
Apr 20, 11:47 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cullman	58 min
Apr 20, 11:51 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Winston	54 min
Apr 20, 12:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Shelby	60 min
Apr 20, 12:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lawrence, Morgan	64 min
Apr 20, 12:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Blount	54 min
Apr 20, 2:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cherokee	32 min
Apr 20, 4:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Clay, Randolph	68 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1992 Every tornado warning in 1992 Tornadoes in 1992

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.