Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1994

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 9, 1994Chilton County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 9, 1994, 1:49 PM CST for Chilton County, Alabama. It was in force for 41 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 9, 1994, 1:49 PM CST (19:49 UTC)
Expired
Mar 9, 1994, 2:30 PM CST
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Chilton County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Centreville/Bibb, AL (KCKL), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 45 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 1994-03-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3 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 1994-03-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 202 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-120 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
615 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
202 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
283 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 091949
SVRBHM
ALC021-092030-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
149 PM CST WED MAR 9 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  230 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...CHILTON COUNTY
 
AT 146 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADARS INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM APPROACHING STANTON IN CHILTON COUNTY. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.
 
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, Mar 9, 11:52 AM CST, 1 hour 57 minutes before
ALZ041-050-046-057-038-065-036-060-058-066-040-043-068-067-069-
047-042-045-044-049-037-054-092000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
1151 AM CST WED MAR 9 1994

...TORNADO WATCH FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTH ALABAMA UNTIL 600 PM...

AT 1145 AM CST...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN MONTGOMERY SHOWED A LINE OF
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT
30 TO 35 MILES AN HOUR.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MOVING INTO DALLAS AND WILCOX COUNTIES...
AFFECTING THE CITIES OF SELMA AND CAMDEN WITHIN THE HOUR. THEY WILL BE
ACCOMPANIED BY TORRENTIAL RAINFALL...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DEADLY
LIGHTNING...AND POSSIBLY SMALL HAIL.

ALTHOUGH NO SEVERE WEATHER WAS OCCURRING AT THIS TIME...CONDITIONS
REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF TORNADOES AND SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS. PEOPLE IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH ALABAMA SHOULD REMAIN ON
THE LOOKOUT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER...AND STAY TUNED TO THIS
STATION F|OR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Mar 9, 1:05 PM CST, 44 minutes before
ALZ041-050-046-057-038-065-036-060-058-066-040-043-068-067-069-
047-042-045-044-049-037-054-092100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
103 PM CST WED MAR 9 1994

...TORNADO WATCH FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTH ALABAMA UNTIL 600 PM...
...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH WEST-CENTRAL ALABAMA...

AT 1255 PM CST...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT MONTGOMERY SHOWED A LINE OF
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN WEST-CENTRAL ALABAMA MOVING RAPIDLY TO THE
NORTHEAST AT 40 TO 45 MILES AN HOUR. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE
ACCOMPANIED BY TORRENTIAL RAINFALL...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DEADLY
LIGHTNING...AND POSSIBLY SMALL HAIL.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED IN MARENGO COUNTY...AND WILL BE
MOVING INTO NORTHERN WILCOX AND WESTERN DALLAS COUNTIES...AFFECTING THE
CITIES OF MILLERS FERRY...MARION JUNCTION...AND SELMA WITHIN 45 MINUTES.

PEOPLE IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH ALABAMA SHOULD WATCH FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING
WEATHER AND MOVE INDOORS TO SAFEx SHELTER AS THE STORMS APPROACH. STAY
TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 9, 12:43 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo47 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.