Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 46, NWS Birmingham, AL

June 26, 1994Etowah County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Jun 26, 1994, 11:18 PM CDT for Etowah County, Alabama. It was in force for 27 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 26, 1994, 11:18 PM CDT (04:18 UTC)
Expired
Jun 26, 1994, 11:45 PM CDT
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Etowah County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Centreville/Bibb, AL (KCKL), launched 00:00Z, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 167 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 00:00Z on 1994-06-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2789 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 00:00Z on 1994-06-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 171 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
2789 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
966 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
171 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
361 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
4.3
Supercell composite
19.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 270419
TORBHM
ALC055-270445-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1118 PM CDT SUN JUN 26 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1145 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...NORTHERN ETOWAH COUNTY
 
AT 1120 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO JUST
EAST OF MOUNTAINBORO...MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.
 
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 BLANKETSB...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, Jun 26, 9:54 PM CDT, 1 hour 24 minutes before
ALZ011>029-031>035-039-270455-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
954 PM CDT SUN JUN 26 1994

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR NORTH ALABAMA UNTIL 400 AM CDT
MONDAY MORNING.  AT 950 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADARS
SHOW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHERN ALABAMA MOVING TOWARDS
THE SOUTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING INTO NORTHERN CLAY AND CENTRAL
CLEBURNE COUNTIES.  OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN NORTHEASTERN
MISSISSIPPI AND WILL BE MOVING INTO MARION AND LARMAR COUNTIES IN
THE NEXT HOUR.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE AS THEY MOVE
THROUGH THE AREA.  KEEP ALERT IN THIS DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION
AND STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Jun 26, 9:54 PM CDT, 1 hour 24 minutes before
ALZ011>029-031>035-039-270455-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
954 PM CDT SUN JUN 26 1994

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR NORTH ALABAMA UNTIL 400 AM CDT
MONDAY MORNING.  AT 950 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADARS
SHOW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHERN ALABAMA MOVING TOWARDS
THE SOUTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING INTO NORTHERN CLAY AND CENTRAL
CLEBURNE COUNTIES.  OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN NORTHEASTERN
MISSISSIPPI AND WILL BE MOVING INTO MARION AND LARMAR COUNTIES IN
THE NEXT HOUR.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE AS THEY MOVE
THROUGH THE AREA.  KEEP ALERT IN THIS DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION
AND STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 26, 10:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCleburne30 min
Jun 26, 10:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion64 min
Jun 26, 11:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar67 min
Jun 26, 11:38 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCherokee37 min
Jun 27, 12:10 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXCalhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne37 min
Jun 27, 12:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall61 min
Jun 27, 12:26 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDeKalb34 min
Jun 27, 4:31 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene44 min
Jun 27, 7:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa45 min
Jun 27, 7:32 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene43 min
Jun 27, 8:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale40 min
Jun 27, 9:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb59 min
Jun 27, 9:39 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry36 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1994Every tornado warning in 1994Tornadoes 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.