Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1995

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 14, NWS Birmingham, AL

February 10, 1995Bibb County, Shelby County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 10, 1995, 5:32 PM CST for Bibb County, Shelby County, Alabama. It was in force for 43 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Feb 10, 1995, 5:32 PM CST (23:32 UTC)
Expired
Feb 10, 1995, 6:15 PM CST
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Bibb County, AL, Shelby County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 12 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1995-02-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1995-02-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 834 square meters per square second.1939587897117136156Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
487 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
80 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
834 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
867 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 102333 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC007-117-110015-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
532 PM CST FRI FEB 10 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...BIBB COUNTY...SHELBY COUNTY
 
AT 530 PM CST...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED OVER NORTHERN BIBB
COUNTY NEAR WEST BLOCTON. THIS STORM WILL BE MOVING TO NEAR MARVEL BY
545 PM.
 
A SECOND SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED OVER SOUTHWEST SHELBY COUNTY
...JUST SOUTHWEST OF HELENA.  THIS STORM WILL BE MOVING TO NEAR COLUMBIA
AROUND 550 TO 600 PM.
 
THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 50 MILES AN HOUR.
 
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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, Feb 10, 1:15 PM CST, 4 hours 17 minutes before
ALZ011>029-031>035-039-102020-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
115 PM CST FRI FEB 10 1995

...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS MOVING OVER NORTH-CENTRAL ALABAMA...

AT 115 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS OVER SECTIONS OF NORTHWEST AND NORTH-CENTRAL ALABAMA.
THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER NORTHERN SHELBY COUNTY...THE
WALKER /JEFFERSON COUNTY LINE...AND IN A BAND FROM PICKENS ACROSS
TUSCALOOSA AND BIBB COUNTIES.

THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

THESE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE PRODUCING OCCASIONAL CLOUD-TO-GROUND
LIGHTNING AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN.  RADAR RAINFALL ESTIMATES HAVE BEEN
RUNNING ABOUT 1/2 TO 1 INCH PER HOUR.
Special weather statement, Feb 10, 2:59 PM CST, 2 hours 33 minutes before
ALZ023>026-034-102300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
259 PM CST FRI FEB 10 1995

AT 255 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE A SHOWERS WITH EMBEDDED
THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM TUSCALOOSA COUNTY NORTHEAST INTO JEFFERSON
COUNTY. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE APPROACING THE BIRMINGHAN METRO
AREA AND WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTHERN JEFFERSON COUNTY WITHIN THE NEXT
HOUR.

BRIEF GUSTY WIND...LIGHTNING...AND ISOLAT<ED DOWNPOURS CAN BE
EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS.
Special weather statement, Feb 10, 4:12 PM CST, 1 hour 20 minutes before
ALZ011>029-031>035-039-110015-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
412 PM CST FRI FEB 10 1995

AT 405 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE A SHOWERS WITH
EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM SOUTHERN SHELBY EAST
ACROSS TALLADEGA AND CLEBURNE COUNTY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING
EAST AT AROUND 40 MILES. DURING THE PAST SEVERAL HOURS THE STORMS HAVE
PRODUCED RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ACROSS PARTS OF SHELBY COUNTY
AND EASTWARD TO CLEBURNE COUNTY.

MOTORISTS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR SUDDEN REDUCTIONS IN VISIBILITY
IN AREAS OF HEAVY RAIN. YOU SHOULD WATCH FOR PONDING ON AREA
ROADWAYS AND BE PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE HYDROPLANING.
Special weather statement, Feb 10, 4:54 PM CST, 38 minutes before
ALZ011>029-031>035-039-102355-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
454 PM CST FRI FEB 10 1995

...BANDS OF THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL OVER
NORTH-CENTRAL ALABAMA...

AT 445 PM CST...RADAR WAS DETECTING STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM GREENE
COUNTY TO SHELBY COUNTY TO RANDOLPH COUNTY.  THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE
OVER SOUTHERN SHELBY COUNTY...SOUTHERN TALLADEGA COUNTY...AND
NORTHWESTERN CLAY COUNTY.  THESE STORMS HAVE PRODUCED 1 TO 2 INCHES OF
RAIN OVER THESE COUNTIES DURING THE PAST COUPLE OF HOURS.  ANOTHER 1
INCH OR SO OF RAIN IS POSSIBLE BEFORE 530 PM.

ELSEWHERE...OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE NOTED ACROSS TUSCALOOSA
COUNTY INTO SOUTHWEST JEFFERSON COUNTY.  THESE STORMS WILL BE MOVING
OVER THE BIRMINGHAM METROPOLITAN AREA BETWEEN 5 AND 530 PM.

MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

HEAVY RAIN COULD CAUSE SMALLER STREAMS TO RISE RAPIDLY AND FLOOD.
FLOODING OF DRAINAGE DITCHES...LOW SPOTS...PARKING LOTS...
UNDERPASSES AND OTHER POORLY DRAINED AREAS IS ALSO POSSIBLE.

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1995Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1995

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.