Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1994

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 9, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 24, 1994Marion County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 24, 1994, 1:57 PM CST for Marion County, Alabama. It was in force for 33 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 24, 1994, 1:57 PM CST (19:57 UTC)
Expired
Mar 24, 1994, 2:30 PM CST
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Marion County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Centreville/Bibb, AL (KCKL), launched 12:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 152 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 1994-03-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 615 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 1994-03-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 179 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
615 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
519 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
179 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
178 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
4.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 241957
SVRBHM
ALC093-242030-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
157 PM CST THU MAR 24 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 NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...SOUTHERN MARION COUNTY
 
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING EASTWARD AROUND 35 MILES AN HOUR ACROSS
THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF MARION COUNTY. GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED
WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM AT 147 PM BY ALABAMA STATE TROOPERS. ON THE
PRESENT TRACK THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE NEAR THE COMMUNITIES OF
BRILLIANT, TEXAS, AND GU-WIN DURING THE NEXT 30 MINUTES.
 
THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EXTENDS THE THUNDERSTORM WARNING ISSUED
EARLIER FOR MARION COUNTY.
 
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 24, 12:23 PM CST, 1 hour 34 minutes before
ALZ018>069-FLZ001>015-241730-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1000 AM CST THU MAR 23 1994

THE DENSE FOG ADVISORY THAT WAS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHWEST FLORIDA
COAST EARLIER THIS MORNING HAS EXPIRED.

INCREASING SOUTH WINDS HAVE LIFTED THE FOG THAT FORMED LAST NIGHT.
VISIBLITIES HAVE IMPROVED AND WILL CONTINUE TO IMPROVE DURING THE
AFTERNOON.

PARTLY CLOUDY TO CLOUDY SKIES AND TEMPERATURES RISING INTO THE UPPER 70*S
AND LOWER 80S ARE IN STORE FOR THE REST OF TODAY.  THERE IS ALSO A CHANCE
OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE AFTERNOON.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 24, 12:27 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene48 min
Mar 24, 12:49 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale, Tuscaloosa41 min
Mar 24, 1:11 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Marion49 min
Mar 24, 1:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale33 min
Mar 24, 1:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb43 min
Mar 24, 2:05 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens55 min
Mar 24, 2:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb40 min
Mar 24, 2:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker55 min
Mar 24, 2:29 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChilton61 min
Mar 24, 2:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa60 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.