Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1994

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 101, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 13, 1994Lamar County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 13, 1994, 5:17 PM CDT for Lamar County, Alabama. It was in force for 40 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 13, 1994, 5:17 PM CDT (22:17 UTC)
Expired
May 13, 1994, 5:57 PM CDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Lamar County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Centreville/Bibb, AL (KCKL), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 128 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, Centreville/Bibb, AL at 12:00Z on 1994-05-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 881 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Centreville/Bibb, AL at 12:00Z on 1994-05-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 31 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
881 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
498 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
78 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 132217
SVRBHM
ALC075-132315-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
517 PM CDT FRI MAY 13 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...LAMAR COUNTY
 
AT 514 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADARS SHOWED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM MOVING OVER NORTHERN LAMAR COUNTY FROM MISSISSPPI. THE
STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR. WITH THIS PRESENT SPEED
AND MOVEMENT THE AREAS OF DETROIT...HENSON SPRINGS AND SULLIGENT WILL BE
IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, May 13, 4:29 PM CDT, 48 minutes before
ALZ036>038-041>047-049-050-065>069-132230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
429 PM CDT FRI MAY 13 1994

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA
UNTIL 10 PM CDT...

WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT MONTGOMERY SHOWED ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OVER
EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA AT 425 PM CDT.  A THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING VERY
HEAVY RAINFALL WAS LOCATED JUST EAST OF FORT DEPOSIT.  THE
THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

PEOPLE IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA ARE URGED TO MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS
CLOSELY THIS EVENING.  THE POTENTIAL FOR DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS...
AND LARGE HAIL REMAINS HIGH IN...AND CLOSE TO THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WATCH AREA.  STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR THE LOCAL BROADCAST
MEDIA FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, May 13, 4:29 PM CDT, 48 minutes before
ALZ036>038-041>047-049-050-065>069-132230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
429 PM CDT FRI MAY 13 1994

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA
UNTIL 10 PM CDT...

WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT MONTGOMERY SHOWED ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OVER
EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA AT 425 PM CDT.  A THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING VERY
HEAVY RAINFALL WAS LOCATED JUST EAST OF FORT DEPOSIT.  THE
THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

PEOPLE IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA ARE URGED TO MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS
CLOSELY THIS EVENING.  THE POTENTIAL FOR DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS...
AND LARGE HAIL REMAINS HIGH IN...AND CLOSE TO THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WATCH AREA.  STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR THE LOCAL BROADCAST
MEDIA FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 13, 2:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene65 min
May 13, 3:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene50 min
May 13, 4:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette, Lamar61 min
May 13, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene52 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1994Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1994

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.